


Poison Desire

by DragonDreads (cjbage)



Series: The Matriarchal Society of Drell [1]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Kepral Syndrome, Alternate Universe - No Reapers, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Mature Situations, Non-Canon Relationship, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Semi - Sex Pollen, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-11 15:15:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 76,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4440761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbage/pseuds/DragonDreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shepard is a Spectre on assignment to hunt slavers.</p><p>The crew discovers a distress beacon on a small planet. After removing the slavers that also responded to the distress call, Shepard and her crew find a young female Drell along with her bodyguard hiding in a cave. When Shepard tries to find a way down into the pit they were in,  she slips and falls landing on a growth of giant flowers sending up a cloud of pollen in the air and coating her armor completely. </p><p>The young female turns out to be the daughter of the current Ariki of the Matriarchal society of Drell. Relieved to have her daughter returned safely she bestows upon Shepard a gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **~**  
>  **Standard Disclaimer:** Bioware owns all of the Mass Effect Universe, including but not limited to the recognizable characters. Any original characters are my own. There is no monetary gain from this work. All I am doing is playing around with their universe.  
> **~**  
> Please do not use my original characters in a different story unless permission is asked for and received.  
> Do not post this story in a different archive, forum, or mailing list. I post only on Archive of Our Own. If you like it please post a link to this page instead. Thank you.  
> **~**  
> Hopefully this version of a previous story is better received. Thanks for reading. Kudos are most welcome, comments help me to decide to continue writing the story and share it or just write it for my own reading enjoyment. Enjoy. 
> 
> Kudo's, comments, concrit is always welcome. Sporadic updates on this one. Run into a bit of block on one of my other stories so posting this for your entertainment while I work my way through the others.
> 
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* * *

 

 

"Shepard, there has been a surge in kidnappings on the Citadel and within Council Space. According to the investigative reports of C-Sec Officer Garrus Vakarian, it is a slaving ring based in the Terminus System. You can get more intel and the file from him. Put together a crew and go take care of this problem." The Turian Councilor, Sparatus, said to the Human female standing on the podium in the chambers.  
  
"Yes, sir." Shepard saluted smartly then withdrew from the room,  followed by two other Humans, one a fairly well built Human male with dark eyes and hair. The other a female,  also with dark eyes and hair,  although she had seemed also to be wearing a scowl on her face.  
  
"Slavers? We know damn well it's the Batarians again. The Council said slavery was illegal yet they have allowed the Batarians to do this shit all the time unless it gets too close to Council space,  only then does it become a problem. They didn't care when the fucking bastards attacked the Human colonies,  killing what they didn't want to take." The female, Ashley Williams,  was saying to Shepard as they waited for the elevator to take them down to the lower level of the Presidium.  
  
"We don't know it's Batarians. We don't have the reports yet." The male, Kaidan Alenko, said to them in a low voice as he looked around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear them. Ashley let out a scoff and crossed her arms.  
  
"We'll go to C-Sec talk to this Officer and go from there. Until then keep a lid on it,  this place has eyes and ears everywhere." Shepard said to them. The elevator finally arrived, and all of them gave out a heavy sigh as elevator music started playing. "I can't believe even the Citadel plays easy listening music in their elevators," Shepard said, and Ash gave out a snort.  
  
"And they run just as slow as the ones back on Earth, Commander," Kaidan said,  a wry grin on his face.

This time it was Shepard that let out the snort, " Yeah, really, you would think this place would have faster ones."

They walked toward the Headquarters, the way was clearly marked for them in big blue lettering,  they asked several C-Sec officers for this Vakarian person and finally found someone that could direct them. They stood outside of the office door with his name and they were guessing the name of his partner, knocking, no one was answering. A male Turian approached, told them Vakarian was out on assignment then he checked his omni tool, told them to go check the lower level on Kithoi Ward.  
  
"This guy's intel better be damn good and worth it with as much time as we are wasting wondering around the Citadel." Shepard was fuming by this time. They exited out of the skycar and headed for the stairs down to the lower level,  they heard a female cry out and flanging voice of male Turian,  calling out to release the female. They heard several shots, and the group drew their weapons, both women eased in front of Kaidan who was a biotic. They edged around the corner to see the C-Sec officer hunkered down behind some crates.  
  
The female screamed again; they heard the crack of a hard slap and a body falling to the ground. The group split up as they headed down to give the Turian back up. Shepard nodded to the Turian then touched her comm, "Kaidan, when I give you the word, hit that crate with a Lift,  we'll take out the bastard shooting at us,  then go for the other one. We need to do this quick." She looked at the Turian, who flicked his mandibles and stared at her with his electric blue eyes for just a second before giving a brief nod. "Go."  
  
A bright blue ball hit the large crate that the Batarian, wearing blue and white armor, was hiding behind. The container rose up in the air alarmingly fast, at the same time Ashley and Shepard stood up riddling the body behind the crate with fire from both a shotgun and an assault rifle. The broken, bloody body collapsed to the floor, they heard shouting and more gunfire further down the corridor. Shepard ran ahead followed by the Turian, and the others fell behind them fanning out.  Behind them they heard the crate crash back down,  no one bothered to look to see if it landed on the mercs body or not.  
  
The zap-zap of bullets hitting her shields made them dodge for cover. They saw two others wearing that same armor running ahead, one of them with a Human female tossed over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes. C-Sec popped out of cover and took a shot at the one shooting at them, it hit the mercs shields, and Kaidan hit him with a Stasis field that took the guy out of the action briefly. The others ran after the one carrying the hostage.  
  
The Batarian took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end alley. He dropped the unconscious female then yanked her to her knees by her hair, holding a gun to her head. "Get the fuck back, or I'll shoot her." His four eyes blinked at them.  
  
"Spectre, you moron, drop the weapon." The Turian's eyes flicked briefly to her then back to the merc. "You're gonna let that woman go, then answer my questions. If you don't cause any problems, you can leave ... without the female. Piss me off, and you're dead." She could almost see the wheels spinning in his head.  
  
His grip tightened on the weapon, and Shepard let out a sigh,  the bastard was a moron. Then an almost silent "phut" was heard and a neat round hole appeared between the Batarians lower set of eyes. His body slowly collapsed dragging the human down with him. C-Sec ran to the female dragging her body out from under the merc and turned her over. He lifted her hair out of the way and was shoving the collar of her shirt down when Ashley yelled at him to get away from the woman.  
  
"I'm just checking to see if they had put a control chip on her, I'm not going to harm her."  
  
Kaidan and Shepard were looking around to find out who could have taken that shot. "Ash, go get that other merc, I want him alive so we can question him. Kaidan's field should be almost ready to collapse by now." She didn't stop looking around but said to the Officer, " I hope the hell you're Garrus Vakarian. Been running all over the Citadel looking for the bastard."  
  
"Yeah, that's me. I take it you're Commander Shepard. The Council said I was to give you my reports. Was on my way to the HQ to wait for you when I ran into these bastards trying to snatch another female right off the streets of the Citadel."  
  
Shepard's shotgun swung around to the darkened area to the right, and Kaidan's pistol soon followed. "You better come out of there before I just open fire." She said, Garrus looked at her like she had lost her marbles then quickly looked back as he saw the shadows shift, and a form started to move forward,  hands out to the side.  
  
The green scaled male approached then stopped once he was no longer in the shadows. Slightly taller than Shepard was with eyes as black as obsidian, he stared at her. "Peace," came the dual toned voice. "I have no quarrel or contract on you. You have nothing to fear from me as long as this remains civil."  
  
"Uh huh,  just who, and excuse me for asking this, but ... what are you?" She saw Ash dragging the other merc; he seemed to be out cold, out of the corner of her eye.  
  
"As to what I am, my species is known as Drell. I was sent here under contract to find the person or group responsible for the kidnapping of our people. As I am sure the Officer can tell you,  the Drell are ... hmm ... rare, I suppose you could say. As such we are extremely valuable to slavers,  fetching a very high price on the market. Our kind very rarely leaves Kahje unless we are contracted to do otherwise." She stared at him,  noticing he didn't give his name.  
  
"C-Sec, is what he is saying true?"  
  
"Yeah, most people can go their entire lives and never encounter one. You told us you were sent here? By who?" Garrus said to him moving up to stand next to Shepard.  
  
"My employers on Kahje. We have lost several transport ships lately. I was hired to track the people down and find our people,  hopefully, alive and in a condition to bring home. Part of my contract was to ensure these same individuals did no further damage to anyone." Shepard had lowered her weapon, and the male had lowered his arms placing them behind him.  
  
"I take it you were the one that killed the Batarian? We could have used him for intel."

"I knew the other one was still alive and you as well as I, saw him change his grip.  He was not going to talk nor let the female remain alive."  
  
"Hmm." Shepard narrowed her eyes, "we need to get this one back to lock up and interrogate him. We are looking for the slavers as well if you have any intel you are willing to share meet us later." She held up her omni tool to transfer some coordinates. He waited, and she could tell he was thinking, then held up his own so they could sync. The male bowed to her then turned to leave. "You never told me your name," she called out as he disappeared into the shadows.  
  
"Krios, Thane Krios. It has been a pleasure meeting you, Commander Shepard."

 

* * *

  
  
After Vakarian hacked the dead mercs omni tools and copied the data from them,  he called in the medics and the other investigators. The female was sent to the hospital to recover until she was able to answer questions. Back at C-Sec HQ,  Shepard and Vakarian went into the interrogation room where Shepard used her omni tool to shock the merc awake.  
  
Some strong arm tactics,  the laughter when Shepard told him she was a Spectre, and he couldn't do shit to her. Playing the vid of him shooting at C-Sec and a Spectre while helping another kidnap a human,  finally had the guy break down,  revealing all the intel he had. Unfortunately, it wasn't much more than where they were supposed to take the human women they were after. But it was better than nothing.  
  
"Officer Vakarian, I need those files and reports," Shepard said as they exited the room,  more C-Sec went in and hauled the merc to lock up until he could be charged and tried.  
  
"Please, you can call me Garrus. They are in my office." He transferred the files, "I'll keep working on decrypting the data from those omni tools."  
  
"Alright, meet me here later tonight. If that Drell shows up, we can question him, and it will give you more intel to work with hopefully. And you can call me Shepard, Garrus. Good job back there by the way."

 

* * *

  
  
Shepard was sitting at the corner table eating and going over the reports when the hairs on the back of her neck went up. "Have a seat Mr. Krios,  don't be shy," she said without turning around.  
  
"Hmm." He hummed then slipped into the seat that placed his back against the wall. "Impressive that you knew I was behind you."  
  
"Uh huh. Just going over reports, Garrus isn't here yet. Why don't you order something while we wait? If you don't mind, I have a few questions,  just curiosity,  if you don't want to answer that's fine."  
  
"You are curious about the Drell or me?" He asked after placing his order with the kiosk.

"A bit of both. I did a bit of research on your people earlier. Not much is known other than you live on the Hanar homeworld,  which seems odd considering your species thrive in a desert-like environment and Kahje is an ocean world."  
  
"Yes, our people ... our world became over populated. We didn't even have fusion power yet when our world began to die from over industrialization, uncontrolled population growth and our lack of foresight in conservation. The Drell were rescued then, well some of them, by the Hanar and we became their client race."  
  
"Huh, interesting. You also mentioned contracts,  what's that about?" She waited until he sat his glass down to ask.

"Well, the Drells have a Compact with the Hanar. Certain males are trained to do things for them that they can not. Outside of a water environment, they can not perform so well." Shepard was looking at him with a frown on her face.  
  
"Uh huh. Keep talking." She didn't like the sound of that it seemed to close to slavery.

"It is not as you imagine. You would need to know about how Drell society worked to understand fully. Please forgive me, but it is not something that our kind usually discusses with others."  
  
"Alright. Here comes Garrus now."  
  
After Garrus slid into his seat and placed an order, Shepard asked Thane about what he knew. He showed him all of the intel he had available,  she, in turn, shared what Garrus had found and he added to it with what he found from the omni tools.  
  
"The Terminus is where the slavers seem to have a base. They hit the partially established colonies hard. They built them right on the edge of the Terminus. Still in Citadel space but close enough to the Terminus that the Council turned a blind eye to it until they started snatching people off the streets of the Citadel.  Then all of a sudden it's become a problem, and a Spectre is sent out to deal with them."  
  
"Indeed. The Hanar Ambassador has brought this to their attention more than once. Unfortunately,  it seems that unless you have a Council seat, nothing happens."  
  
Garrus snorted, "I've been after them for months now. I showed my boss case file after file about the kidnappings here." He glanced at Shepard, "they were Humans,  usually females. It wasn't until a high ranking Asari got snatched right out in front of one of their hotels that they started to do something."  
  
Shepard snorted and smirked, "that doesn't surprise me at all."  
  
They finished eating, and Thane started to stand to leave when she held out a hand, "one second. I am going after these guys and am building up a team. I already know you are good with a sniper rifle if you are interested why not join me? Unless that will somehow interfere with your contract."  
  
He sat back down and blinked at her. Put his elbows on the table and folded his hands together. He seemed to be deep in thought. "Interesting. I will contact my employer after I leave here and update them. Then put in the request to be allowed to join your team. It will be advantageous to both of us. I shall contact you tomorrow with the answer,  at which time we will set up a contract."  
  
"Alright sounds reasonable,  you can call me Shepard. What about you Garrus? Care to join me? You did most of the work after all." Shepard asked him as he put his napkin down on the table. 

"Yeah, yeah I would if you can get it cleared with my boss. I'm a good shot with both the sniper rifle and an assault rifle. My tech skills aren't bad, and I am good at calibrating guns to get the most out of them." He gave her a wide, toothy Turian grin. Shepard smiled back.

 

* * *

  
  
Shepard received a message from Thane asking to meet,  they finalized their own contract then he let her know of his abilities. She was a bit taken aback when he calmly told her he was a trained Master Assassin, that he used submachine guns, sniper rifles and was also a biotic. She smiled at him, "glad to have you on board. If you wish, I am meeting up with Garrus in a few hours,  we can take you to the ship to get you settled. The Alliance is letting me pick up a few more people for our ground crew,  we haven't enough people with high level technical skills. Ashley and I are both soldiers, put any weapon in our hands and we can use it with precision. But past the basics neither one of us is any good with tech stuff. Kaidan is also a biotic. He's an L2 so he gets migraines and isn't always able to handle ground work. But he's a damn good field medic and when he's on the ground not a bad soldier,  he's got a better handle on the technical things then Ash or I do. So as far as the real technical mumbo jumbo only Garrus so far."

 

* * *

  
  
"Captain Anderson, sir. As soon as that field engineer gets here, we can leave. The Council wants us working on this as quickly as possible, and I have the rest of my team ready to go." Shepard told him after she entered the small office he was working out of.

"About that Shepard. The person we had originally assigned to you can't join you; she injured herself in the line of duty. It will be at least a month before the Alliance will send a replacement that has that type of skill set."  
  
"A month? Sir, all due respect, but we can't wait a month. We need to go, we had planned on leaving in a day, at most two. The trail is liable to grow cold." Shepard paced, scowling the entire time. _Now, what the hell am I to do?_  
  
"It will take longer if we try to get the Council to give clearance to another technician from the Alliance." He told her leaning back in his chair.

"Alright,  thank you, Captain. I will have to figure something else out." They spoke for a while longer then she made her way out of the Embassy offices.  
  
"Get out of my way, suit rat. There is nothing here for you to steal. If you don't leave,  I'll call C-Sec and have you thrown off the Citadel. They shouldn't allow your kind on here, to begin with. All of you are nothing but thieves." Shepard heard the loud flanging voice of a male Turian yelling at someone around the corner.  
  
"What is going on here?" She jogged around the corner,  seeing a female backed against the wall wearing a skin-tight suit and a helmet. The large Turian was hovering over her baring his teeth, "none of your business, Human. You shouldn't be allowed on the Citadel, either."

"That's Commander Shepard, Council Spectre to you, asshole. Care to try addressing me again in that manner?" She put her hand on the butt of her pistol and the Turian only growled then stomped away. "Jackass. You alright, Miss?"  
  
"Yes. Yes, thank you." The woman sounded like a young girl and a very nervous one at that. She was wringing her hands and looking around.  
  
"You sure you're ok?  You seem scared of something."  
  
"I'm alright, I ... I need to find a doctor though; there was an accident when I first got here. I am not feeling so well,  my people ... we have weak immune systems, and my suit got a small rupture."  
  
"Oh, well come on then. I know of a good doctor close by,  she'll get you patched up in no time."  
  
Shepard led her to Dr. Michel and waited for her to be examined and treated. She paid for the treatment, waving away the girl's protests, then took her to lunch.  She told Shepard she was a Quarian, her name was Tali, and like the Turians they were dextro amino based and needed that type of food. When Shepard asked about it, she went to explain further that while Turians could eat levo based foods, they would get no nutrition from it. If they were sensitive to it, they could go into anaphylactic shock and possibly die. As for the Quarians,  they probably would die because of their immune system, unless treated fast enough. She showed Shepard some of the programs that she had installed in her suit for scanning food and water, all medications. Pretty much anything that she would need to have come from outside and put into her suit.  
  
When Shepard asked what she was doing on the Citadel, Tali explained about the Pilgrimage all of them undertook, and she was there hoping for a job, in either Synthetic Insights or Serrice Technology. Shepard perked up, "you're a technician?"  
  
"Well, technically I'm an engineer. Machinery, drive cores, apps," she looked around nervously, "things like hacking software, antivirus and stuff like that too."

Shepard grinned at her, "you any good with weapons?"

Tali gave her a slight nod, "shotguns are my favorite, pistols too, but I also have drones and can hack things like turrets and turn them on my enemies for a short time if I get into trouble."  
  
"Tali, I got a proposition for you ...", Shepard said and told her about the mission she was on. Offering her a portion of any salvage and if there were something that she wanted that would help her to complete her pilgrimage, then she would get first dibs on it. Tali quickly agreed and told her she had nothing to pick up or bring on board her ship; she was ready to go then and there.  
  
"Excellent."  
  
Shepard sent out a crew wide notice that they were to report to the ship by 0800 the next morning.

 

* * *

  
  
"Now that everyone has been introduced and is up to date with the mission we can haul ass and get to work. Our first stop is this system here," Shepard bought up a small representation of the Phi Clio system, "we found coordinates for a location in this system near a gas giant,  more than likely it's a drop off location for a ship. When we get there Thane, I want you to do recon. Get me as much intel on hostiles, locations, if there are any hostages, etc. Once he gets back, we will decide on how to get in, take care of business and then search for more clues. Are there any questions?"  
  
Tali's hand started to raise. "You need not ask permission, or raise your hand Tali. You are part of the ground crew,  speak your questions or concerns."  
  
"Well, how are we going to get close enough to get Thane on board if it is a ship? Won't they see something the size of the Normandy heading for them?"  
  
Shepard grinned at her, "this ship is a prototype. A joint construction between Turians and Humans, not only is it equipped with an oversized drive core, but it also has advanced stealth capabilities. The only way they are going to see us coming is if they happen to be looking out of a window."  
  
"Spirits, I heard about that. Is this ship the one they were talking about? Leading edge technology." Garrus was looking at her, his mandibles lax and arms crossed.  
  
"Yeah.  When the Council made me a Spectre, they had almost completed it. Technically, the ship was to go to one of the Systems Alliance forward fleets. Instead, I got it for my missions. Mainly due to needing to get in and out as quickly as possible,  since we don't have back-up out here,  we need the best we can get. This ship also has a set of prototype shuttles,  capable of FTL travel; they also have mass accelerator cannons. The only down side is the designers traded hull strength for fighting, we can only use those for stealth missions or if we need to go planet side and Joker can't find us a place to safely land. Otherwise, our planet side vehicle will be the Mako that is down in the shuttle bay."  
  
Shepard grinned at Garrus, whose hide flushed a darker gray, "it is my understanding that Garrus has already taken over maintenance of that vehicle and has run off the regular crew from there."  
  
Ashley spoke up, "you got that right, Skipper. Saw him down there tinkering yesterday when I was putting in the mods for our guns. He was still down there this morning when I woke up after that notice came through of the last shipment coming in."  
  
"Hmm, I don't mind that you're working on the vehicles or the ship's guns, but don't overdo it, Garrus. We need you well rested for the ground crew." She looked him straight in the eye.

"Yes,  Commander."  
  
"Alright, if there is no other questions or concerns, we will be leaving the Citadel in just under 2 hours. I hope everyone remembered everything they wanted to bring with them; it may be a while before we come back to the Citadel."  When no one else said anything, she looked at them all, "Dismissed."


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

 "Commander, that fueling depot looks really old. Like way old." Joker said to her as they approached near the gas giant, Cyllene. "Another thing, we're picking up another planet that isn't even in the Council's database. This system is spooky."  
  
"Hmm,  maybe that's why they picked this one,  not too many people come through this system. Far enough out of the way for no regular traffic yet with a working Relay close enough for FTL travel without taking too long. A convenient depot to discharge the cores of the ships." She was looking closely at the holo screens for anything out of the ordinary. The stealth mode was active but they were still being careful.  
  
"There, did you see that. Ensign, what did the LADAR pick up." Shepard turned to the workstation to the left and just behind the pilot. 

The woman at the panel worked furiously at the terminal, "LADAR painted it as a Freighter class."  
  
"Well, a Freighter would certainly have enough room for transporting slaves. Even obscure ones. Did you trace it? Can you tell where it came from or going to?"  
  
"Working on it, Commander." The woman flipped screens and slid others up or out of the way. "There seems to be another vessel. Docked at the depot. The computer is running comparisons now."  
  
Shepard stood behind her chair chewing on the side of her fingernail. "It's a Raider class ship, no markings." More screens flip. "No matches on the identification signal. It's either a pirate or slaver ma'am."  
  
Shepard, rocked back and forth, still chewing on the thumbnail and staring at the screens. "Thane,  you're up. Raider class ship. Roberts, get the shuttle ready. You're his pilot, no risks, come back if it looks hot." She turned to Joker, "monitor comms and that shuttle, if it looks like they are getting into deep shit, drop stealth and go get them."  
  
"Aye, Aye Commander." Joker adjusted his brittle body in the seat and started working on his own panels.

 "Good work, Ensign. Keep scanning. See if you can find anything more." Shepard patted the back of the chair as she continued to watch the screens.

 

* * *

  
  
The shuttle made its way forward,  Thane slipped into his dark suit making sure he was fully armed for both stealth kills and if necessary a short fire fight. Although he preferred to be silent in case there were hostages on board.  
  
Roberts flew the shuttle and came up under the docking area,  no sensors indicated anyone detected them. Thane slipped into his skin tight breather mask and eased out the door of the shuttle as it raised up behind a large pile of shipping containers. He jumped soundlessly to the dock. Roberts lowered the shuttle and looked for the closest well protected area he could find, then hovered there waiting for Thane's call for pickup.  
  
"Commander,  the package has been delivered." Robert's voice came across the comms as Shepard paced behind the pilot's seat. "Acknowledged. Keep comms clear. Thane's extraction is the top priority. If the shit starts flying get the hell out of there and get him."

 

* * *

  
  
Thane moved cautiously toward the ship currently docked at the derelict depot. Staying to the shadows, he quickly looked around. Thane spotted the small glint of light that reflected off of metal that wasn't covered in dust. He used his sniper scope to get a better view of what caused that glint, carefully staying out of any light so it wouldn't reveal his own location.  
  
A figure in blue was pacing around the upper area overlooking the ship, smoking a cigarette and seemingly not paying much attention. Thane carefully looked around taking in every detail and waited until the man had turned around to pace in the other direction before darting across the dock to the opposite corner, once more lost in the shadows. He brought up the schematics that the Ensign sent him looking for an alternate way in.  
  
A well-hidden service panel was located on the opposite side of the ship making it extremely dangerous. Finally having to have Roberts bring the shuttle back and using that as a sort of ladder to get up close to the thrusters to get a handhold. From there it was a simple matter of using a hack that Tali gave him to bypass the sensors and open the panel, then sliding into the small enclosure.  
  
"I'm inside the ship, Commander and working my way through; there is the possibility that the building itself will need to be entered."  
  
"Acknowledged, after you get their flight data do something about that ship while you are in there,  pull some wires or something to disable it. In case we need to bug in a hurry."

There was a slight laugh from him, "as you wish. Going silent. Comms open."  
  
Shepard paced,  she chewed her nail, then when it broke under her teeth let out an "ugh".  The Ensign held up a miniature nail file for her to use. She went back to pacing, causing Joker to finally turn partially in his seat and stare at her. She held up her hands then went to the CIC,  checked for any incoming reports on a small terminal,  then went into the debriefing room.  
  
"Ship's clear,  data retrieval complete; exiting the ship now. Will proceed to the building to infiltrate." Thane's voice came over the speakers; his dual tones were hushed.

"Acknowledged. Be careful."  
  
The hours seemed to drag by until Robert's announced they were on the way back. She let out a relieved sigh and sent her acknowledgement and called the other ground team members to the debriefing room. While they made their way to the room, she jogged up the steps and grabbed several bottles of water and nutribars for Thane from the mess hall then returned to the meeting room to find most of them waiting for her.  The only ones missing were Tali, who had taken to helping out in Engineering, and Thane.  
  
Once everyone was in the room and situated either on the chairs or leaning on the railing, Thane brought up the recorded intel from the ship first. He gave the coordinates to Joker to compile a list,  then started retelling what he found.  
  
"The ship is definitely used as a slaver vessel, the hold was full of empty cages. It was recently used, as the smell of excrement and blood was still thick in the air. I surmise that ship that left as we arrived was carrying the latest shipment. There were 20 large adult size cages and 10 small cages that would most likely hold children." Next he brought up the layout of the building, there were five guards outside of the building, small red dots lit up where they had been stationed. "As you can see the front entrance had two guards,  as did the back entry. One guard on the docks, he would be the easiest to take out at a distance as he is only visible to the others when he moves to the end of the platform closest to the building."  
  
He changed the view to inside of the building each floor designated by a different color. "On the first floor are four rooms; a dining area, bunk room,  what appears to be an office, and a storage room. The second and third floor is laid out almost identical, one room is a bunk style room for the guards along with a facilities room. Then the rest of the floor is nothing but cages. Forty-five cages on the second floor and 30 on the top floor. At the moment all are empty,  but had been used recently as the odors are still lingering."  
  
"Damn,  this isn't a small time operation. How many guards were on the inside?" Shepard asked him as she started pacing again.  
  
"At the time there were five guards on the lower level. None remained on the upper levels,  I assume because nothing was there to guard. I could not get close enough to hack the terminal at the time without the possibility of being seen."  
  
She sighed then rubbed her forehead. "Alright, the big question is should we get rid of the guards and hack the database or should we try and locate the ship that left with the hostages. Joker, any headway on tracking that ship?"  
  
"No, Commander,  after it left this system it was on a course for Enoch,  it probably used the Mass Relay there. That secondary relay leads to the Attican Beta Primary, and that goes to several other secondary relays along with connecting to the Hades Gamma Primary."  
  
"So, in other words, they could be anywhere by now. Ok, so we take out the guards and do a thorough search,  while you finish up the data from the other ship. Garrus, I want you to keep an eye outside once we take out the guards,  Kaidan and Tali you're both with me. Good job, Thane get some food and rest."

 

* * *

  
  
Taking out the guards outside was no problem,  just like Thane had said the one would be an easy shot for Garrus,  no muss no fuss. They decided to use the back door to enter the building. Once Garrus had taken out the far guard they set up to take out the guards in the front. Shepard timed her shot with Garrus so both sniper rifles went off dropping both guards at the same time. She gave him a big grin, "very nice, Vakarian. I could get used to this." He smiled back at her, his mandibles twitching. It worked so well the first time they repeated the action on the guards at the rear,  it took a bit longer as the one seemed to have trouble standing still and kept moving.  The second he turned around and leaned against the wall, both of them dropped to the ground,  neat round holes between their beady black eyes.  
  
"Garrus,  you're on lookout duty. Both of you follow me."  Shepard pulled her Assault rifle out, while the others readied their weapons. Tali hacked the door then moved to the other side to enter the building last. Kaidan reached out and hit the holo button to open the door, both of them went in quickly taking out the closest guards while Tali set off her drone into the room, then took cover behind some piled up crates.  
  
"Three down, there's still two more inside, keep your guard up." She no sooner said that when a hail of bullets came from the second floor. Tali let out a series of squeaks as some of the bullets were directed her way, she hunkered down further behind the crates. Shepard switched out her weapons again. "Kaidan, when that bastard pops out of cover hit him with a Lift,  I'll do the rest."  
  
The next second Kaidan seen a head and foot appear at the corner of the railing and sent out the Lift, Shepard put a bullet in the guys head before he even hit the ceiling. "Head to the office, that other one is around here somewhere so stay sharp." They moved quickly toward the door. It was locked, Tali hacked it while the others protected her,  then Shepard hit the button. When the door swished opened they surprised the Human that was rapidly trying to delete the data base. Kaidan took him out then Tali rushed over to the terminal.  Her fingers flew over the holo keyboard trying to stop the deletion and recover as many files as she could.  
  
"All clear here. Let's look around. Garrus come inside, Joker let us know if another ship approaches."  
  
As Tali worked on the terminal the rest of the crew searched for more clues, they found several data pads with cargo shipment listings. Shepard walked over and toed the Human merc that was on the floor,  disgusted with her own people for taking part in this mess. "Garrus, grab any intel off their omni tools you can get,  especially this one."  
  
"Commander, come look at this." Tali said from her spot in front of the terminal. Shepard walked over and watched as Tali scrolled through several screens. "This looks like... like a shopping list. Here, look. A list of Human females, specific heights, hair colorings even the color of your skin. This one here even requests a particular eye color. Kee'lah,  I didn't know there were so many different ones. While this one...", she flipped back through, "looks like a ...what is the term? Wholesale order?"  
  
There were more lists for Asari, Drell even a few asking for Salarians. The odd one or two wanting either female Quarians or Turian children. "Make a copy of that list. I wish there were actual names not codes for the damn buyers."

 

* * *

  
  
Joker put up the overlay of the flight patterns of the ship,  no surprise it was moving around the areas right along the Terminus border. Seems it was raiding into Council Space then quickly jumping to the Terminus so the Council wouldn't follow them. "Okay,  so we know the kidnappings on the Citadel are related to this group of slavers operating out of the Terminus,  we now have definitive proof of that. But how the hell are we going to catch them,  and where the hell are they taking them all at once. There has to be something they are using as a pick up location. I doubt they provide door to door service. Plus we need to find that other ship."  
  
"May I make a suggestion?" Thane's voice came at them from the far side of the room.

"Sure, go ahead."  
  
"The lists for the particular Drell can be used. Other than the few remaining societal structures on Rakhana, which as you can see from the flight path they do not go there, or I should say this particular group does not, there is only one major place they can gather their victims from."  
  
"Kahje."  
  
"Yes, Commander. Since the transports that have gone missing were the ones using the same path as the Commercial line between Kahje, Nos Astra, and the Citadel, may I suggest looking in that area first? They are looking for specific colorations. So either they have someone that is either a Drell or Hanar that works for them or they have someone watching the docks in Nos Astra for when one of the transports land."  
  
"Hmm,  so Nos Astra would probably be worth it, the Drell would offload equipment if they were working or passengers just going to Nos Astra or transferring to the Citadel transport. If we should happen to find either the ship or their agent we have a good chance at getting some more intel. Thane, why don't you contact someone on Kahje that could possibly keep an eye out on that end.  Someone you trust that isn't working for the slavers."  
  
"Right away, Commander," Thane said, once again fading into the background.  
  
"Does anyone else have any suggestions?" Once she was certain no one had any questions, she told Joker to set a course for Nos Astra.

 

* * *

  
Shepard and Garrus sat at a small cafe near the transport docks; it was close enough that Garrus' visor could pick up comms of anyone acting suspiciously. The Normandy was somewhere outside of the shipping lanes hidden amongst the stars, Tali and Joker were running various programs to match signatures of any freighters coming in that could be a match to the unknown vessel that had gotten away from them.  
  
Shepard glanced at the large display that had the arrival and departure times of the commercial transits, Ashley and Kaidan were on the lower docks where the freight ships would dock. Thane was sent a notice right before they had arrived that a shipment was scheduled to arrive there about two hours after they were.  He was somewhere in the dark rafters closer to the freight docks and would signal Ashley if he spotted anything.  
  
"You picking up anything, Garrus?" Shepard asked him as she pretended to drink her coffee, the cup was empty,  had been empty for a while now.

"No, Shepard. Nothing yet,  well other than that Asari over there cheating her boss out of some cargo, and that Salarian at the kiosk is asking about what kind of weapons he would need to use to get into the Eclipse Merc band."  
  
"Ashley, anything on your end," Shepard asked as she carefully looked around.

"Nothing yet, Skipper."  
  
"Hmm,  the Commercial transport is scheduled in 15 minutes,  there are no Drell on the docks waiting to board. Garrus,  has anyone not moved for say the last 20 minutes or so,  well other than us." She shifted in her chair,  groaning a bit as her ass was starting to hurt from sitting for so long on the hard chair. Garrus started to slowly sweep the docks, then the benches closest to where the Drell would disembark.  Finally he looked over the buildings and the storefronts.

"There is one Human,  male, dark fringe... I mean,  hair,  that has been leaning against the wall outside of the bakery. An Asari that has been sitting on that bench, to the left of us, hidden by the greenery for the past 30 minutes. There is also another Human,  female, brown hair, outside the electronics store. Those three have been here the longest."  
  
They waited a bit longer, Ashley came on the comm, telling her that the freighter arrived and they were moving out the crates. None of the visible Drell workers matched the list though. "There is no movement, Commander, of any other person here. I do not believe anyone that works for the slavers is here." Thane's voice was heard right after Ashley's.  
  
"Alright,  the transport just got clearance to dock. We have three possibles here." Garrus started to pay more attention to the three, Shepard watched as many others as she could.  A Hanar exited the passenger airlock and approached the Asari sitting on the bench and they left together,  the Asari smiling and chatting merrily away. They waited some more and when no one else entered or exited the shuttle,  Shepard let out an expletive that had even Ashley chuckling.  
  
"Commander,  we just picked up what sounds like a distress beacon. We can't be sure, it's weak either from being distant or something is blocking it." Joker's voice came on the line, Shepard was just about to tell him that someone else could get it when Garrus called her name.  
  
"Shepard, the Human female just left in a hurry. The male is still leaning against the building. No comm chatter after I heard what sounded like it could have been a code."  
  
"Shit, everyone, get to the shuttle. Move it, people." Shepard and Garrus got up and made their way to the dock. Thane appeared and quickly ducked inside right after they opened the hatch. The others arrived, and Shepard used her Spectre authority to bypass docking protocols.  
  
"Joker, get us moving and keep an eye out for any other vessels. Get me as much intel on that distress call as you can."  
  
"It seems to be originating from the Lusarn system, Commander." Joker's hands were moving quickly over the controls.

"Commander,  a ship matching the LADAR scans of a Raider left the Illium port a few minutes before your shuttle did. It seems to be heading the same way we are." The Ensign sitting near Joker told her.  
  
"Step on it, Joker." She banged on the back of his chair and took off for the shuttle bay calling for Thane and Garrus to meet her down there.

"Commander,  that signal is from the planet Tarith,  it has a chlorine atmo,  you need the heavy duty breathing gear."  
  
"Understood. Thane you'll need to suit up in one of the under-armors."  
  
She helped to get Thane into a heavier set of armor; his usual breather would not be enough to keep out the chlorine. "Thank you, Commander. I do hope I do not need to wear this often."

She chuckled at him. "Be thankful that Ash bought this set of light armor before she left the Citadel, Thane. Along with the new Hazard seals, you should be okay. You just may not be able to blend into the shadows."  
  
"I can see why, please do not let the others know I am in this ... rather pink ... set of armor." She could have sworn the stoic Drell grimaced. She winked at him and carefully placed the matching pink and white helmet on his head making sure his frills weren't damaged.

"Sealing it now. Once the VI scans you, it should be good to go."  
  
Garrus had his back turned, barely moving. Once she had the seals in place she glanced at him noticing his arm was across this mouth,  the damn Turian was laughing. She raised her eyebrow at him when he glanced around at them. Which only got him hunching up more,  and quickly putting on his own helmet. They climbed into the Mako and prepared for the drop to the surface.  
  
"Comm check." The other team members acknowledged as did Joker.

"Commander,  we have visual on that Raider,  it's heading straight for Tarith."  
  
"Drop us as close to the beacon as you can Joker.  We just have to hope that whoever set it up can hold out until we get there."

She activated the controls on the Mako getting ready for the drop, "Commander looks like they are veering slightly off course, still heading for the planet but it seems like they are going to try to land the ship."  
  
"Acknowledged, just drop us on a fly by, then follow them." Shepard took a firm grip on the steering controls as the others buckled in. The doors under the Mako opened, and they free fell toward the ground,  the mass effect field activating just before they hit.  
  
"Spirits, Shepard! Watch out for that hole!" Garrus yelled at her as she sped toward the beacon's signal. Thane grunted as she hit the thrusters jumping over the hole and landing hard. "This vehicle wasn't meant to run on three wheels!"  
  
"For God's sake, Garrus shut the hell up and hold on!" Shepard floored it and went flying off the side of the small mountain.  
  
"I do not think we need to worry about the chlorine killing us, the Commander's driving will certainly do us in before the atmosphere will," Thane called from the back seat of the vehicle,  he was currently clutching the safety strap with both hands.  
  
"There, Shepard, the signal seems to be coming from that cave." Garrus pointed out on the HUD of the Mako. She swung a hard right nearly tipping them over and made a beeline straight run for it. Several blips appeared on the screen, "we got company,  they are closing in on the cave system," Garrus told them.

  
She skidded to a halt near the cave entrance and they all jumped out, ducking behind the vehicle when the ones on foot started shooting. The green color of the air around them, from the chlorine gas, made it difficult to see, Thane had the advantage as his sniper rifle was equipped with the combat optics upgrade. Even though it helped the other squad members somewhat through their VI interfaces it still wasn't that much better.  
  
The slavers, on the other hand, didn't seem to have even that advantage, their shots were wild with no accuracy.  They looked to have been in such a hurry to get to who or whatever that sent out the beacon that they didn't bother taking the time to prepare in case they met resistance.  
  
"Commander, we found the other ship. What do you want us to do?"  
  
"Keep it from taking off, do what you think is necessary. Just don't destroy it. Hopefully, Tali will be able to get stuff off their databanks or from the VI if they don't completely erase it."

 

* * *

  
  
When the last of the slavers were down,  Garrus quickly went over to them,  copying their omni tool data. He grumbled that there was nothing to scavenge from them, their equipment wasn't the best. They did, however, have some credit chits on them. Shepard was busily running scans of the area and Thane was keeping a lookout for more enemy movement.  
  
"All clear." His dual toned voice said as Garrus reappeared by their side. They followed Shepard into the cave system following the directions her VI was giving her to locate the beacon.

"This damn place is a fucking nightmare," Shepard growled after she tripped over a thick root that was sprawled across the ground. The gas outside was bad but inside the cave where it was dark combined with that gas made it ten times worse. The lights from their weapons and helmets did little to help. The VI notified her of an opening several yards ahead where the beacon's signal was the strongest.  Shepard moved forward a bit quicker,  tripping again when another thick root had spread itself out in front the opening. "I hate this place."  
  
"Help, over here. I need help!" The dual toned voice of another Drell echoed off the cavern walls; it had a higher pitch than Thane's, younger maybe or a female.

"It is one of our females Shepard; we must hurry," Thane said and tried to move around her to get to where the voice seemed to be echoing from.

"Whoa, slow down there cowboy, we don't know what's up ahead."

 Thane let out an exasperated hiss.  
  
"This is Spectre Shepard; we are working our way to you. Stay calm. How many of you are there?"  
  
"There is two of us here. Hurry,  it is becoming harder to breathe." They heard coughing that must have been coming from the other person with her. They made their way to the center and saw a light flashing; they looked over the edge of a shallow pit. There were two people down there along with a small emergency beacon.

"Okay, we see you, I'll find a way down to you, and we'll get you both out of that pit." Shepard looked down closer and saw the female had a full head gear on while the male only had a small breather.  
  
"Joker, patch me through to Doctor Chakwas," Shepard said as she moved around the edge of the pit looking for a safe way down and also a way to get them out of there.  
  
"Go ahead, Commander."  
  
"We have two Drell here,  one female one male. The male is going to need extensive lung treatment, chlorine atmo and he's only got a portable breather. His treatment is highest priority. She seems fine, walking, talking, no pain is indicted,  but the male is barely moving and he's coughing."  
  
"Understood, Commander,  will get set up here and meet you at the shuttle bay,  get him up and out of there as quickly as you can."  
  
"Our doctor on board will treat you, sir. Just hold on a bit longer." Shepard said to him,  missing the looks she received from the female and the way the woman had turned to look at the male who was leaning weakly against a boulder.  
  
Shepard moved to the far side and saw what looked to be a ramp, "Garrus,  Thane over here." She started to walk down the ramp when it crumbled under her,  pitching her forward, "FUCKKK!" she yelled as she fell face down. She tried to prepare herself in that split second for crashing face first into the ground below,  only to let out a "whuumpf" when she did land.  
  
A giant cloud of something raised up around her, bright lights of red,  blue,  green, and yellow sprang up around her. "What the flying fuck are these?" As the cloud settled around her leaving traces of various colors on her once pristine black armor.  
  
"It seems to be native plant life, Commander." Thane's voice came over the comm. He had lightly jumped down beside her after she had scrambled off the mass of plants she had landed on.  
  
"Damn it, I really, really don't like this place," she said as she tried to wipe the sticky substance off.  
  
"Garrus stay up there,  Thane and I will get the Drell male up to you get him out to the Mako. We'll be right behind you with the female." They moved quickly over to the male, Thane hesitated, but when Shepard glared at him, he took the male's other arm and helped to carry him to the other side where they could now see a very thin ledge leading up.  
  
"What about me,  you just can't leave me here." The whiny voice came to them, Shepard looked back at her and could have sworn she saw the woman almost stomp her foot in frustration.

"You seem capable of walking,  so follow right behind us." She didn't give her any time to argue as she started to ease her way up the ledge, "it is going to be alright, sir. Just a little further."  
  
When they reached the top, Garrus hauled the male up the rest of the way, picked him up and took off running. "Damn, I didn't know Turians were that strong."  
  
Thane and Shepard reached back and helped the female off of the ledge. "Stay between us." Shepard took off at a fast clip just making it out of the cave as Garrus helped the male into the Mako. "Joker give us your coordinates. Tali meet us down in the shuttle bay, we'll need your skills on that other ship. "  
  
"Garrus,  you get us there,  then get these two onboard. Thane, Tali, and I will board the other ship see what we can find." Shepard grabbed an emergency pack from the roof of the Mako and sat beside the male who was laying on the floor. "Sir,  can you hear me?" She carefully tapped the male on the shoulder,  he opened his eyes and blinked at her. "I need to give you a different breather, you will need to take as deep a breath as you can and hold it until I slip this other one on you. Ready?" He gave no indication he understood her, she glanced up at Thane who looked away then down at the male. A trill followed by musical warble was heard, which caused the male to glance at Thane,  then Thane started speaking to him,  repeating what Shepard had told him.  
  
At his nod, she yanked off the old breather and jammed the better one against his face, tightening the straps around his head. "Okay, that's it,  take nice relaxed breaths. Our ship's doctor will start to heal you as soon as we get you on board. Don't worry." Thane once again repeated what she had said. She rubbed the male's shoulder in a soothing gesture she hoped was universal.  
  
She saw the male glance at the female and looked over.  The female looked at the injured male with a drawn down expression, almost as if frowning at him. The injured male looked back to Shepard and just stared at her. She looked up at Thane, and his brow ridges angled down as he looked at the male and Shepard, it gave her a slight pause.  
  
She switched her comm to a private channel, "something you want to say to me, Krios?"

He quickly looked back to her face. "No,  not right now, Commander. But ... after we are all back on board, I shall need to explain a few things." She hummed at him, and he blinked at her.  
  
"Shepard, that must have been their ship,  it looks like it took a disruptor hit from something." Shepard got up and looked at the data they gathered as Garrus started driving. It seemed to be a small private ship, maybe a ten person. She would have to check with the Ensign and get details later, once the ship's doctor had time to treat everyone.  
  
They approached the Normandy, and several armed crew members came down the ramp helping Garrus to bring the male in, two others helped the female up the ramp. Shepard took off heading for the ship that was several hundred yards away.  
  
Thane and Shepard guarded Tali while she ran the hack for the ship's outer airlock door, once it slid open they hurried inside, and she repeated the procedure. They didn't see anyone on the other side of the door, but they didn't want to take the chance, so Tali stayed behind Thane as Shepard went in first. "Tali lock it up behind us,  change the pass code just in case someone was outside."  
  
They moved through the small ship, inside every opening, every compartment. No one else was on board. In the cargo hold, the three of them noticed several empty cages but nothing else. "Work your magic on the databanks, Tali. Thane, you're with me,  gather everything that looks useful."  
  
"Keelah, Shepard. This ship has three different transponder IDs. I'm copying the databanks now. It will take me some time to decode all of this."  
  
"Normandy,  do you copy?" Shepard asked as she leaned against a crate in the hold.  
  
"We copy Commander," Joker replied, "the doc is working on the Drell. She said without Thane here translating it was difficult. We ended up using the Normandy's language software. The ... uh,  female,  was less than forthcoming with help on that end."  
  
"Get several of the crew onto one of the shuttles; we have an excellent haul of food and items to bring over. I'll have a talk with the female when I get back." Shepard said and saw Thane look up at her sharply.  
  
"Roger that,  they are suiting up now. Normandy out."  
  
"So,  Miss Tali. Three IDs huh. Guess no one really knows who this ship belongs to do they?"

Tali looked up at her,  her luminescent eyes blinking behind her mask. "No, no Commander, I guess they wouldn't."  
  
"Huh, so... we found a ship with no real ID on who this belongs to,  seems to be abandoned... guess it is salvage then, right? Wonder if anyone would want it?"

Shepard grinned at her, and Tali blinked again. She heard the Quarian mumble, "Keelah... a ship."  
  
"I think I may know of someone after all the Migrant fleet had found many abandoned or derelict ships. I'll just contact them then ... you know for someone that might happen to be in the system." She wiped her three fingered hands on her suit, then turned back to the console.

"You do that Tali,  just make sure we have all the data and that it is wiped from the system before they happen to swing by to pick it up. That is now classified data."  
  
"Yes, Commander."

 

* * *

  
  
Shepard tiredly leaned against the decon chamber as it ran, over and over until she thought she would go mad. It was apparently having problems getting the pollen ... spores ... whatever it was off her suit. Finally the light turned green and they went into the ship. She went to the side where the lockers were and started helping Thane out of his suit. "I want to talk to the Doctor first, then if you wouldn't mind telling me what the hell all that was about back there, I would appreciate it."  
  
She popped the seals on his helmet and carefully removed it, "yes, Commander." He was hesitant about something.

They quickly got him out of the rest of the armor, he grabbed his regular clothes and started to walk away, "ahem... Thane. The undersuit needs to be put into the armor decon machine as well." She said to him as she started to pop the seals on her own helmet, when she removed it she felt a tickle on her nose. "Ah ...ah ... ahhh choooo". None of them noticed the tiny particles of rainbow pollen that had landed on her hair, from where it shook loose from her helmet's seals.  
  
"Bless you, Commander," Ashley called from across the bay.

"Thanks, Ash." She kept removing armor placing it in the machine until she was down to her undersuit. He was still standing there. "What's wrong Thane?" She reached behind her and grabbed the zipper pull. Ziiipppppp...,  she tugged it off her shoulders then down her arms,  wiggled it off her hips. Stopping for a second to readjust her underwear before pulling it the rest of the way off and hanging it into the side compartment of the machine.  
  
Thane was blinking and trying to look everywhere else but at the Commander. "We got a shy one on our hands ladies and gentlemen." She laughed out. She heard Ash and Garrus laughing too. She moved closer to him and lowered her voice, "Thane,  this is a military vessel. All of us learned fast at basic to leave our modesty at the door, in the field if one of us gets hurt and we need to strip them down to administer aid,  we do it. I would rather be stripped naked and my wounds attended to, then retain my modesty and perhaps die from an infection because I was worried about showing some skin to someone else. I know this whole thing is very different than what you are used to,  but it is by no means viewed as an intimate or sexual act if that is what has you worried.  If it is something that is culturally taboo,  then you need to say so."  
  
His frills expanded a bit, and he cleared his throat, "it is not taboo for me, Commander. But... Drell males do not wear any," he waved his hand at her underwear."We do not wear such garments under our clothing."

She grinned at him, "Oh... you're commando under that suit? Bare ass naked... nice."  
  
"Commander!" he hissed out, even though he was trying to stifle a laugh when he saw her eyes sparkling with laughter.  
  
"Go behind that crate and change into the pants at least, but that suit can't leave the shuttle bay unless it passes through the decon machine. It's a health and safety issue."

He gave her a slight bow then almost ran into the crate when Ash yelled out, "what's he gonna do when he finds out the showers are communal?"  
  
"He'll get used it soon enough. I've made the schedules already, the only one with the exception is Tali." Shepard put on a set of sweats, "speaking of which, we need to get a move on."  
  
"Don't use up all the hot water, Shepard. The rest of us need it too," Ash called out.  
  
"Joker set a course for Kahje to get our passengers home."  
  
"Garrus, Thane it's shower time. Damn, that sounds like I'm trying to proposition you both, but that is not the case. Being we just got done a mission we get to use the shower while the water is clean and hot, right from the fresh tank. Let's move it." Garrus grabbed a bucket that he had sitting beside his cot along with a bag that must have contained his other set of clothing. Thane came out and hung up the other undersuit beside the ones already in there. Shepard hit the button then walked toward the elevator, "come on, before Garrus gets the stall with the good shower head." Thane rubbed the back of his head before walking toward them, Garrus just started laughing, his mandibles flicking.  
  
"Damn that feels good." Shepard let out a sigh as the hot water streamed over her. She looked up as the bathroom door opened and Thane came in, keeping his eyes averted. She just shook her head and watched as he moved to the very last stall. "You have so got to get over it, Thane."  
  
"Give him time, Shepard. He isn't used to this, and considering this is a Turian designed shower it's a wonder you Humans are okay with it."  
  
"Basic was close to the same way, though depending on where you were stationed they would have the males and females separate. Once assigned to ships however, that becomes a luxury. I must admit though,  this is the first time serving with other species, so yeah I can see how it may not be the most comfortable thing to experience." She reached for the bottle of shampoo and started to lather her hair when she sneezed again.  
  
"Damn it, guess I need to see the doc about this." She finished her shower and sighed as she made her way to the Med Bay.

 

* * *

  
  
"Doc,  how are our guests doing?" Shepard walked into the Med Bay,  a towel draped over her head. "Our male guest,  is still on a breathing treatment,  his lungs were quite damaged as the breather he was using was substandard for that atmosphere. The medication is starting to work,  the longer he can breathe in the treatment the less scarring he will have. I have also treated several chlorine gas burns on his body, among other things." The tone of her voice had changed and it caught Shepard's attention.  
  
"Hmm." She glanced at the sedated male asleep on the bed. Bandages wrapped around his arms and parts of his chest. His head had also been wrapped before encased in a breather bubble.  
  
"His eyes were given treatment,  but as they have dual sets of eyelids the actual sclera and cornea were undamaged, I will know more once he can be woken up and his eyesight tested. As for the female, she was completely unharmed. Other than slight bruising on her one foot where it looked like she stubbed her toe. After I had to tell her several times that the male's health was top priority over a boo-boo she pouted then went into the unoccupied XO quarters."  
  
Shepard frowned then looked back down at the male, "you said you treated him for other things as well?"

Doctor Chakwas pulled up a holo and pointed out several areas. "He had a break here, possibly from the fall,  but the female had no such damage.  He may have caught her, which caused the break. On his back were several lash marks. He has been beaten, several times. His arm here and here, was previously broken but healed, though not cleanly. I went ahead and fixed that as well since he was sedated he didn't feel the bone being broken then correctly set. I know it isn't protocol but I used some of the bone weave on his arm, to strengthen it. There was also no omni tool or translator implant. He can only understand his own language, Commander."  
  
"So he's been abused? Could this have been as a child?"

Chakwas was shaking her head, "No, Commander. Some of those lashings were only a few months old."  
  
Shepard narrowed her eyes. "Joker, how long until we reach Kahje?"  
  
"Thirty-six hours at our current speed, Commander."

She looked at Chakwas, "Is that enough time for his lungs to recover?"    
  
"Partially, Commander. The longer the treatment, the better his health will be. From what I see from his scans ... he was not treated well."  
  
"Joker, slow us down some, then find a fueling station to discharge the core." She nodded at Chakwas, "looks like it is time to have a little chat with Krios."

 

* * *

  
  
"Krios, report to the Captain's quarters," Shepard said over the ship-wide comm. She sat at her desk typing up a report on the slavers when the entry chime sounded. "Enter."  
  
"Have a seat, Thane. You and I need to have a chat about our guests." She pointed to the small couch adjacent to her desk.  
  
He sat on the very edge. Shepard sighed, "let me first say that you did an excellent job out there,  it must be difficult for you working in a team situation instead of solo." She swiveled her chair around to face him. "There are things I need answers for Thane, and I would rather get them from you as I know you will be truthful with me, then ask one of the others."  
  
"Yes, Commander." His voice was soft. "What is it that you need to know?"  
  
"The male that we rescued has been traumatized." She brought up his scans, "beaten, bones broken. He has no omni tool or translator. The female has both and from what Chakwas said is healthy by all accounts. She is also rather spoiled and demanding, believing her stubbed toe to be of greater medical emergency then chlorine burns on the skin ... sorry, scales and lungs."  
  
Thane looked down then back up at her, "bear with me Commander. I must start back in our history a bit, and this... tale will be a long one." He sat back a bit on the couch then began.  
  
"Many thousands of years ago on Rakhana our people were a society of male dominated ... predators. The females were mainly just treated as breeders. Our people were warlike, then as our people became knowledgeable and we started to grow, things slowly changed. We were no longer nomadic but built cities near the scarce water supplies. This, unfortunately, was not well thought out since we ended up building too fast, growing too fast and poisoning what little fresh water there was."  
  
He got up and paced a bit, "the females of our society, had begun to group together. Finding ways for us to survive as best we could on a dying planet. They were the ones that had negotiated the rescue of almost 400,000 of us from Rakhana. That may not seem so many when our population at the time was over 11 billion, but with limited land on Kahje that was actually a vast amount of people. Our society had slowly shifted from a male to a female dominate one,  we became a Matriarchal society."  
  
Shepard leaned back in her chair and stuck out her legs as he continued, "it has evolved, of course, from that point. This is the part that is usually unknown outside of our own people as other cultures tend to misinterpret it. But as part of the agreement for the rescue, our people formed a Compact with the Hanar. The males are offered at age five to the Hanar to train, those that are not chosen are then returned to their clan domes. Upon which they are prepared for a life of service to the females of the clan. The males are traded within the domes and to others to keep the blood healthy. Inbreeding is frowned upon. They are trained for many different ... jobs. House staff, bodyguards, workers in warehouses and mines, other jobs as well. We are ruled by an Ariki, a Monarch, a female of noble birth."  
  
He did frown as he sat down. "The males are a resource; it is not acceptable to mistreat one of your males. But these health issues, you said some of them were recent? Could they have been caused by the ship crashing or fall?"  
  
"The fresh break, yes, most certainly. The lashings and the multiple breaks on his arm among other things, no. This male has been abused over a relatively extended period of time. The injuries have been treated,  the Doctor has also treated his arm,  applying a military grade bone weave to help strengthen it. Now, is it also the norm to leave them without a way to communicate with the rest of the galaxy? Even our poorest civilians are given translator implants."  
  
"Usually only those trained for the Compact or ones that work in businesses off-world are given translators. It was found an unnecessary expense since they do not leave the homeworld and only have contact with our own species or with the Hanar, which we are all taught as children to understand."  
  
"So, when we were onboard the Mako, you seemed to be upset about something. Care to tell me what it was." She swung around and made a few notes on a datapad then tossed it up on her desk.  
  
"The ... owned adult males are usually not touched by another female. By touching him, you were offering more than... hmm, a comforting hand on his shoulder. You were telling him that you would be willing to trade something of value for him."  
  
"Damn it, Thane. I'm trying not to jump to conclusions about this shit... but for God's sake it sounds like slavery." She jumped up out of her chair and started to pace in the small confines of her room, "talking about your males as commodities and resources, being owned by another of your kind. Being trained to serve. Traded."  
  
"No, Commander,  it is not. The males are exchanged within our own society; we serve the people in our own way. We are trained and cared for.... "  
  
She interrupted him with a laugh, "tell that to the male in the infirmary. He was cared for really well as he was being beaten and having his bones broken." She held up her hand and let out a sigh, "I'm sorry, Thane. Truly. But we are out here hunting slavers, and your society's ways are very... close to some of the slavery practices my people used to have. I do apologize that remark was uncalled for."  
  
"I understand, Commander. Cultural differences between species can be difficult." He gave her a small grin.

She returned it with a smirk, "that was aimed at that communal shower thing, wasn't it ... I take it your people don't do that sort of thing?"  
  
"Not necessarily, the non-Compact males shower usually in one large room. Female Drell shower alone or with their attendants." His frills darkened.  
  
"And the Compacted males, what about you?" She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Once we get to a certain age and have proven our worth,  we are given private rooms either with a shower, which usually only the highly skilled ones are awarded, or continue with the male's shower. But we do not share a female's bath unless we are... hmm, contracted to."  
  
"Well, on board it is a whole different story. We don't have that kind of luxury. We have only one bathing facility and a hell of a lot of people that need to use it. Garrus, you, me, and Ashley would usually be using it at the same time, four stalls four people. Today was the exception since she didn't go out on mission. Tali, of course will be able to use the shower alone, as it will need several decon runs before she goes inside so she doesn't get ill."  
  
"I understand that, Commander. It is just, cultural shock, shall we say that affected me earlier. Same as what hearing my society is like, affected you."  
  
"Very true, good point. Now one last piece of business. The male matched the list, so they were after him and possibly others on that ship, of which it seemed that unless the two of them were alone out here, had already been taken. Since they didn't make it to Nos Astra, there is someone else out there that is working for the slavers, I would guess they are on Kahje. Unless our guests tell us differently, that would be my guess as to where they left port from. Tomorrow Doctor Chakwas will be waking up the male, I will need you to be there to translate for me at first. We need to get as much intel as we can from them."  
  
"Of course, Commander."

 

* * *

  
  
"Hey Doc,  when I was in here yesterday I meant to tell you,  I have been sneezing off and on since coming back from that planet."  
  
"Commander,  you know better than to wait when something odd like that happens." Chakwas grabbed a datapad bringing up Shepard's incident report telling Shepard to get up on the table after taking off her shirt. The scanner lowered down and slowly worked its way down her head, neck and chest.  
  
"Hmm, nothing seems to be off. According to your report, you landed on some native plants; I will need a full description so I can run tests." She took out a needle and withdrew blood as Shepard described the unusual plants.  
  
"Well,  that shouldn't be too difficult, plants that glow in a rainbow of colors when they are damaged."  
  
"Commander, it will take four hours to discharge the core then another five to Kahje."  
  
"Thanks, Joker. Thane, would you please escort our female guest to the med bay,  we are getting ready to wake the male."  
  
"As you wish, Commander."


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

 

 

Shepard dug around in a small box in the lower cupboard and finally pulled out a bracelet. After turning it on and running a quick diagnostic scan on it she leaned back against the counter and waited.  
  
"Thane, what is taking so long?" Shepard asked, the bite of impatience in her tone was clear.  
  
"I am afraid Commander, that she is, as she put it,  taking a nap and does not wish to be disturbed."

Shepard let out a growl. "Joker open a ship wide channel and on my mark start playing Reveille." Doctor Chakwas started to laugh.  
  
"Aye, Aye Commander, ready when you are." Joker's laugh could be heard in his voice, and she could imagine the giant smirk on his face.  
  
"Attention guest of the Normandy, enjoy this lullaby as you drift off to sleep. Joker, full volume."  
  
The sound of the old Earth military wake up call, echoed through the whole ship, bouncing off the walls, causing the aliens on board to try and cover whatever passed for their ears. Only Tali had no problem as she just adjusted her suits sound filters.  
  
By the time the second round was finished the female, followed by a slightly smirking Thane, came storming through the Med Bay door. Shepard hit the button on the wall and the lights flashed, the sound of the bugle stopped immediately.  
  
"How dare you!" The female stood with her back straight as if she was princess speaking to a pauper.  
  
"I dare because this is my ship, I am the boss here. When I say jump, you say how high then do it. This is not a cruise line but a military vessel. You do not disobey my orders, is that crystal clear? If you have an issue with that, I can have a few armed crew men escort you to the door and show you the way out." She pulled out one of the rolling desk chairs and shoved it at the female, "now sit down. We have questions for both of you."  
  
She nodded at the Doctor who turned and input a command into the console by the bed. Within minutes the male started to stir and awaken, he jerked and started thrashing around in a panic. "Shh, easy. It's alright," Shepard said to him as she approached the bed. He looked at her then around the room, then back at her again.  
  
"Thane, come here please." She held up the bracelet. "This is an emergency translator, it will let us communicate. I have several questions that I need to ask you. This won't hurt you at all, but will take a few minutes to adjust to both of our languages." Thane translated and the male looked to the female who sat in the chair with a petulant look on her face. "Look at me, not her. On board this ship, I am the leader, the one in charge." The male glanced at Thane who gave a nod. The male cautiously extended his arm. Shepard smiled at him then gently put the bracelet on him and activated it. "You will need to speak in order for it to register your language."  
  
The male said a few words in a hushed tone. When the indicator light went from red to green, Shepard smiled again. "There you should be able to understand me now, can you?"

The male blinked at her then looked at the glowing bracelet on his arm and said, "yes."  
  
"Very good, this should go much smoother and faster now. My name is Spectre Shepard, I am also known as Commander of the SSV Normandy,  which is the military vessel you are currently on. We picked up the distress signal and responded,  however,  we weren't the only ones. Slavers also responded to the signal. I need to know where your ship left dock from, where you were going and how many people were on board your vessel. The databank from your ship was damaged so we could not pull it from the flight plan."  
  
Neither one started talking, and Shepard lost what little patience she had left. "One of you better start talking now and answering my questions or so help me you will learn what it means to disobey a Commander's direct orders when you are seeking refuge on a military vessel. I will give you two options,  answer my damn questions or be put ashore on the closest planet,  inhabited or not,  it doesn't matter to me. I have more important things to do than standing around waiting."  
  
"Please, Commander. Our vessel,  we were on Kahje, the Mistress wanted to go to Nos Astra. The Ariki has forbidden any females of high rank to leave the planet. But the Mistress,  she was insistent. She said they were only attacking the transport lines,  they would not bother us. Our ship had four other males on board. When we were attacked the pilot told us he had to crash land, that it was the slavers. I grabbed the medical breather and made sure it was on the Mistress,  then grabbed one of the spare breathers and the distress beacon. When the ship crashed, I took the Mistress out of the ship and ran toward the closest shelter I could see." He stopped and looked around.  
  
Shepard walked over and brought him a small cup of water. "Here drink this, it is just water. You did well to get the breathers and bring the beacon. Without that we would never have found you. You fell into the pit?"  
  
"Yes, I did not see it. I called out as I landed,  telling the Mistress. My leg started to hurt,  but I had to help her down so they wouldn't find her. I started the beacon. After a while it was so hard to breathe. I tried to slow my breathing, I almost blacked out, either from the pain in my leg or lungs, I do not know which. Thank you for rescuing the Mistress."  
  
Doctor Chakwas came over and told him of his medical injuries and that for the most part they have all been healed. She handed him some pills and explained them to him, he took them after looking at Thane and Shepard.  
  
"I need one more thing from you. I need for you to describe to Thane, the coloration of each of the other males on board. I need detailed descriptions if you can,  then we will get you something to eat and you can rest until we reach Kahje."  
  
Shepard walked over to the female who was sitting on the chair pouting like a spoiled child. "So you disobeyed even your Ariki's orders, and it cost you a ship, four men, injuries to another and if my team and I hadn't stopped the rest of the slavers, your freedom as well." She shook her head. "When we get into range I will be contacting your Ariki and letting her know you are being returned along with everything that has happened." That got a response from the female, she jumped,  her frills flushed and she looked around nervously.  
  
"Commander,  I have the detailed descriptions."

She nodded, "report to my quarters, we will go over the list then. I'll be in after I fix our guest a meal."  
  
To the female she said she could go back to her room, she will be notified when they arrive at the Kahje docks.  
  
Shepard returned a few minutes later with food piled on several plates for the male. His eyes grew even larger as he looked at it. Chakwas raised the head of his bed and Shepard set up the tray. "You have been unconscious for a while,  and according to the scans have not had proper nutrition lately. So you need to eat as much as you comfortably can."

* * *

  
  
"So, there was a match on two of them,  the one we have and one missing." She sighed as she flopped back on her bed. "Just fucking wonderful. Tali is still working on decoding the omni tools and ship's databank. There has to be something there, then we need to find whoever their source is on Kahje."  
  
"I have been thinking about that, Commander. There are three different docks at the main dome. Passenger, private, and business. This person must have access to all three of them. Each one has different levels of access required. Unless you own a business that imports or exports directly you wouldn't have access to the business docks. No one but ship owners have access to the private docking area. So we either have one that is a high ranking business owner that uses both passenger transport as well as private vessels. Or we have a group of them there."  
  
"Have you heard anything else from your contact there? There has to be a way of looking for suspicious people, I mean three docks and they have to be there all the time. When we get there we'll ask for permission to look around. Rescuing a couple of your people from slavers should earn us a few favors here and there." She grunted and sat back up, "good work, Thane. Time to call that Ariki and let her know of our impending arrival. This call should be good."

* * *

  
  
"This is Spectre Shepard, Commander of the SSV Normandy. Requesting an audience with the Ariki, concerning two rescued Drell from the private ship registered as The Pariet."

Shepard stood at the back of Joker's chair and waited for a reply, "Normandy, please wait for verification."  
  
"Understood."  
  
"Requesting identification of Drell. Please respond."  
  
"One female. One male. Names will not be given over this comm line as we are unsure of its security."  
  
"Hold please."  
  
"Normandy, you are cleared for docking. Level 5 bay G. You will be met with a complimentary security team and will be guided to your meeting. Please note, weapons are not allowed. With the exception of one pistol for the Spectre. Dome regulations."  
  
"Inquiry,  why only a pistol?"  
  
There was a short pause and a slight laughter to the male's tone. "No offense, Spectre. But a shot from a pistol is less likely to form a crack in the underwater part of the dome than one from a sniper round or burst from a sub machine gun. I, for one, do not wish to drown."  
  
Shepard laughed at the response, "duly noted, Shepard out." She turned to Thane, raised an eyebrow. "I take it that the males working there are also under the Compact? He certainly was different than the one currently in the med bay."

Thane gave a slight bow, " yes, Commander. Any job that is likely to have to interact with a different species are given to those under the Compact, unless it happens to be a personal business, then you are more likely to encounter a female or one of the males trained to run the shop. You must also understand that males are not usually... treated as the one on board has been." He frowned when he thought of how quiet and afraid the other male seemed. "We serve, but are not... subservient in such a manner."  
  
"Ramirez and Jones please escort our guests to the bridge. Weapons are to remain on board. Ramirez, that includes the pig sticker."  
  
Shepard sneezed again as she closed out the ship wide comm. She wiped her forehead,  was it a bit warm in here? "Joker,  run an environmental diagnostic,  specifically for temperature variance, it feels a bit warmer in here than normal."  
  
"Aye, Aye Commander. Bring me back a souvenir."

* * *

  
  
"Right this way Spectre, the Ariki has granted you and your companions an audience." The male Drell in the front said to her. The female Drell followed by her companion went to move ahead when they were stopped by the guard. "I am sorry Mistress, but the Ariki has asked that you and the male follow us as well, she requires your attendance on this matter." The female stood there gaping at the male and armed guards like a giant fish,  her mouth opening and closing without uttering a word.  
  
Shepard's lips twitched, "after you, gentlemen."

* * *

  
  
They were shown into what Shepard supposed was a grand throne room, windows gleamed as did the highly polished floor. A thick carpet ran the length of the room from the door to where the large seats were raised on a slight dias, one of which was currently occupied. Shepard took all of this in a quick glance, she also noticed several males around the room placed in strategic places to have the best vantage points in a firefight.  
  
Shepard's attention returned to the female that now stood in front of her chair. At a glance she wasn't much taller than herself,  with scales of dark blue, her ribbing was bright red and her pattern markings along her head were slightly lighter than the rest of her. Her frills were not as prominent as the males of her species nor were the ridges along her head.  
  
"Welcome to Kahje, Spectre. I am Eudora, Ariki of the Drell on Kahje. It is a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it was under more auspicious circumstances than what currently brings you here." She resumed her seat and the female that Shepard brought back moved forward, placed one foot on the dias then came to a resounding halt as the Ariki spoke again.  
  
"I have not given you leave to approach, return to your original position." Ariki Eudora stared at the younger female with unblinking jet black eyes.  
  
"But..." the female started speaking then quickly stopped as one of the guards on either side of the Ariki's throne shifted. Once she had returned to a position slightly behind Shepard the Ariki turned once more to the Commander.  
  
"Now,  I have been told you and your crew were the ones to find and rescue the two Drell. Can you please clarify the situation for me? Explain to me how you found them and the circumstances that had led to them to be in the position which you found them in."  
  
Shepard gave a slight bow,  then explained some of the information she couldn't divulge as it was classified. Shepard brought up a holo projection app on her omni tool,  proceeded to tell her of currently investigating a slaver ring in the Terminus. "These are the same slavers that have been preying on the Drell transports as well as other species. We encountered a distress beacon during the investigation which led us to a downed ship, there were already slavers on the planet heading for the beacon as well. Once we dispatched the enemies,  we went inside to encounter these two. The male was in desperate medical condition, he gave the female the medical breather, and only equipped a normal atmo breather for himself."  
  
The screen changed showing Shepard's hardsuit vid of the encounter. Everyone could see the male was in serious condition, they also saw the childish behavior of the female, which brought a frown to the Ariki.  
  
"Once they were safely on board,  medical attention was given to the male as his condition was reaching critical. The ship that they were on yielded little intel, the databanks had been damaged when they crash landed."  
  
The vid switched to a medical scan. "The male had the following issues upon being scanned, all have been attended to. His lungs were severely damaged, chlorine gas is not kind to lung tissue. He also had chlorine burns to 30 percent of his body. His eyes were given treatment,  but he was lucky to have very little damage to them. The break he had upon his fall into the pit from where we found them, has been fixed."  
  
Shepard frowned then sucked her teeth, "the following medical concerns were also attended to although they were of an older nature and not related to the crash. Two recently healed breaks in his right arm, now reset properly and strengthened with a military bone weave. A total of 20 scars on his back from what my Chief Medical Officer has summed up as, 'being left to heal on their own from severe beatings with a lash or whip like instrument.' He was also severely malnourished."  
  
She pulled up the ship's recording of the female throwing a tantrum and insisting on being treated first. Chakwas reply telling her that a stubbed toe was not an emergency and if she didn't settle down she would be asked to leave. The ensuing stomp of said foot before the female turned and stormed out of the Med Bay. "After the initial treatments, the CMO recommended additional time for the male to receive lung treatment to minimize internal scarring."  
  
She changed the vid again, this time to right before they woke the male. "As Commanding Officer of the military vehicle they were aboard, I require everyone to follow commands, if not punishments are dealt out. I bring this to your attention as to inform you in advance in case a complaint is made to treatment of the passengers." The vid played and several males cringed when the bugle started to play. She fast forwarded to the point where the lights flashed and the reprimand given, they listened to the circumstances the male had informed Shepard of concerning the reason they were off planet. Shepard noticed the Ariki's hands tighten their grip on the arms of her chair.  
  
The Ariki took a breath then released the grip on her chair, "I would like to thank you for returning my daughter and one of her males to us. I am very glad the slavers that were after my daughter did not make it to her in time. I do make a request of you, please try and find out what has happened to the ones lost to us. "  
  
"All due respect Ariki,  the slavers were not after your daughter. They were after this male and one other that was on the ship. Unfortunately, they got to him and the other three before we landed,  they were no longer on the planet. Your daughter would have been an afterthought for them, as were the other males, to be sold to a wholesale slave trader."  
  
"They were after... I do not understand." The Ariki leaned back once again, her hand going to her brow. "They were not after my child?"  
  
"No,  ma'am." Shepard sighed then rubbed her chin. "This is classified, everyone in this chamber is now obligated to never reveal this information, under Spectre authority. The slavers are after certain individuals, paid for specifically for their physical appearance in most cases. Human females of certain colors, Asari of certain talents or standing, Drells of certain scale coloration. They have been targeting Drells coming from here, going to Nos Astra, either by passenger transport ship or cargo transport. "  
  
"I am formally requesting permission to set up surveillance of the three docks. Most assuredly there is either a group of individuals here or at least one that is currently monitoring your docks and actively searching for matching victims."  
  
"I... yes, yes of course." She seemed to get a hold of herself and return to the aristocratic individual she was when they first entered. "Was there anything you personally wish for,  as a thank you for coming to the aid of my kind?"  
  
Shepard stared at her, then rocked on her back leg. "Yes, as a matter of fact there is. The male that I brought back, I want him removed to a safer environment, I want the ones that have mistreated him to pay reparations to him, in whatever manner is appropriate to your kind. He has been beaten, abused, and is so scared of... the individual that he serves that he wouldn't even speak to me at first."  
  
Eudora looked at Shepard, the male and her daughter. The girl was staring at Shepard with her mouth open, in shock it seemed. The male was looking at her in awe, rubbing what looked like a glowing bracelet on his wrist. Shepard was staring right back at her.  
  
"Agreed, he will be given a place within my household where he will be treated more appropriately. The other males that serve my daughter will be spoken with, if they had abused him of their own accord they will be dealt with. If it was under orders... they too will be removed." Shepard gave her a bow then turned to the male.  
  
"The translator is a gift, from me to you, as a thank you for your quick actions in getting the beacon. Without that we never would have found you, nor would we have got more intel on the slaver ring. I am sorry, however, that you were so badly hurt in doing so." Her voice soft, the male rubbed the glowing bracelet then blinked at her.  
  
"Thank you for saving us, Commander. And thank you for... for everything." She gave him a warm smile before turning back to the Ariki.  
  
"We have taken up enough of your time, I thank you for the audience and the attention to this matter that you have given."  
  
"As you will be here for a while during your investigations, I would be honored if you and whatever crew members you will need, stay in one of the guest homes in the main dome. It is centrally located to the docks,  please take whatever steps you need to in order to keep more of my people on this list, from being taken. I also request you attend a small formal gathering in a few days."  
  
"Formal gathering?" Shepard rocked back on her heels as if she had been struck.

"Commander, it is tradition for the Ariki to host a small gathering when a visiting dignitary is here." Thane whispered into the comm. "To refuse will be disrespectful."  
  
"Of.. of course, I would be delighted, may I also request that the invitation be extended to one of the members of my crew as well." Shepard nervously ran her hand down her dress blues.

"Of course, Spectre. Who do you wish to bring, so that we may make sure we are prepared?"  
  
Shepard gave a slight smirk, "Krios, front and center." She heard a hiss from behind her, then the Drell stepped forward to stand next to her. "As a valued member of my crew, Krios will attend, it was his attention to detail and suggestion on where to begin our investigation that allowed us to be within beacon range." She rubbed the back of her neck, "plus he'll keep me from making too much of a fool of myself in front of you and your people."  
  
The Ariki laughed and motioned to a guard, "see that the Spectre has everything she needs and her people are escorted to the home."

* * *

  
  
"Attention ground crew, pack a bag with whatever you need for several days. We are staying in a premise near the docks and will be taking rotating shifts. Be on your best behaviour, we are guests of the Ariki, not here on shore leave." Shepard dragged a bag out of storage and jammed in several sets of clothes.  
  
"Commander." Thane's voice came over the comm.

"Yes, Thane?" She barely concealed the laughter in her voice.  
  
"I am beginning to really hate having agreed to a contract with you. First that... armor, now this... occasion. I am trained to stay hidden in the shadows, not stick out like a--", his voice trailed off into a grumble not really sure of an appropriate metaphor.  
  
Shepard started laughing, "like a sore thumb? Sorry my friend, but I really do need someone to be there to keep me from starting an interspecies incident because I did something completely inappropriate."

 

* * *

  
  
Thane blended into the workers on the docks placing cameras and audio equipment where Tali told him to, then after the last of the passenger transports had left, the others quickly set up the same for the other docks as they were empty.  
  
Shepard was given tours of each of the docks by a set of guards,  both of whom knew the real reason she was there. Tali made note of any blind spots of the cameras that were encountered during those tours and would fix them after everyone cleared out for the night.  
  
Anyone appearing or disappearing as the ships loaded and unloaded without seeming to have a reason for being there were tagged as suspicious.  Especially if they were there daily or more than what should have been necessary. The males that worked on the ships and docks were tagged if they were ones that were on the list and watched carefully for anyone that happened to be watching them.  
  
All of the crew took turns manning the terminals, making a list of those that acted strangely. At the end of their third day they gathered in the main room, each one brought up the list they had made looking for those that showed up in all of the shifts consistently. "We need someone who would know these individuals,  or access to some type of database of individuals. We need to find out if they are connected in any way. Joker, has there been any reports of more kidnappings or any unusual ship sightings in the area?"  
  
"Our contact in C-Sec sent more reports of Human females matching the list going missing from the Citadel. They were told it was lower priority than the missing Asari, they are to pull out all the stops to find her. There was also something about a Salarian scientist that had disappeared from Omega, not sure if it is random or if he was taken,  it is Omega after all. But the guys background sorta meshes with one of the wanted ones."  
  
The Ensign added that no unusual ship activity was seen and all freighters belonged to either the Drell or Hanar.  
  
"Okay, while Thane and I are at the lunch meeting... thing, I want Garrus to be nearby as a guard. Use that visor of yours to pick up anything that may be useful for identifying these people. Tali, I'll see if they have some sort of employee database for the ones on the shipping dock. Ash, Kaidan get some rest,  both of you are on the early shift in the morning."

* * *

  
  
Shepard stuck to Thane like superglue. She had already broken a glass when she gripped the stem too hard when she overheard comments about trading some males for new "stock". He quickly moved her away and they took care of the slight gash in her hand. Telling the attendant that it was due to one of her military modifications and not a faulty piece of glassware. Then she almost choked when she ate something a different attendant called,  Grisium,  only to find out after she had popped it into her mouth that it was made using the testicles of a Pikalo fish. She had turned red then blue taking on an interesting shade of green as Thane rushed her around to the back of a large potted plant where she spit it out and buried in it the plant's pot.  
  
"Thane... I hate your people. What they hell are they thinking making something to eat using the balls of a fish." She could only imagine what Garrus was thinking about this, and she knew damn well he was going to share this whole fiasco with the others.  
  
Thane was trying his hardest not to laugh at her, though those full lips of his kept twitching and turning up in the corners. "Maybe it would be best if you just drank some of the fruit juices on offer. I will try and find you something to eat that is more ... palatable."  
  
"How much longer will we need to stay here, this thing keeps getting worse." She hissed at him as he wiped a stain from the coat of her uniform. A Hanar hadn't noticed her standing nearby and as it waved one of its tentacles to make a point to the female Drell it had been talking with, it had accidentally knocked her small piece of cake from her plate.  
  
"The Ariki will soon make her speech. After we listen to it we can make your farewell round then leave." He was currently dabbing at the stain with some cleaner that the female had asked to be brought when she had noticed the accident occur.

"Thank God, I'm really tired of this whole thing.  I would rather sit through an Elcor poetry reading than going through another day like this one." He made a humming sound as he finished.  
  
She grabbed a napkin from a close by table and dabbed at her face and neck. Thane looked up at her and frowned, he had noticed her color was different than what it had been when they first arrived on Kahje. It had become more pinkish as the days past, she also had been drinking more water than usual.  
  
"Shepard, are you alright? I noticed you are having issues with the temperature."  
  
"Yeah,  it has been really hot. Ash and Kaidan said they didn't think so and Garrus said the temps are steady, a bit warmer then on the Normandy but not that hot."  
  
A light tinkling bell sounded in the room and Thane placed his hand on her elbow guiding her to the front of the room.

* * *

  
  
Shepard stood as still as a statue, she had turned pale as the marble pillars in the room. "Commander, you need to say something. If you do not this will most certain cause an incident. You can not disrespect the Ariki, you must accept the gift with graciousness and you must do so quickly." Thane hissed in her ear from his spot right behind her.  
  
Shepard blinked, then wiped her shaking, sweaty palms down the side of her uniform coat. "I ..." she cleared her throat, "I ... am pleased to accept so gracious a gift from you, Ariki. It is quite the honor to have such a ... valued treasure bestowed upon me."  
  
"You have returned my young daughter safely and didn't ask for anything truly for yourself in return, only the protection for another Drell that you rescued. The Council would not respond to our cries for help when my people were disappearing. You not only rescued two of them and brought them home,  but you healed the injuries. You have dedicated yourself to finding not only your own people by mine as well."  
  
The Ariki signaled to the purple Drell to move closer. "Along with being your Suinima, he will also be your bodyguard, he has been trained in close quarters combat with the Lumoi Roda, he shall serve you well.  I have seen the way you have treated a male belonging to a complete stranger and have faith that you will treat your own male with as much kindness, as much respect as you did the other." 

Shepard heard Thane give a quiet gasp, listened to a hum come from him, so unlike his usual calm.  
  
The Ariki signaled for the male to take his position on Shepard's left.

"Thane, what the hell is going on?" she hissed into her comm,  barely moving her lips as she stared at the procession of males bringing in objects on pillows or in boxes. "What the fuck is a Suinima? My damn translator wouldn't spit out a meaning for it."  
  
"I will explain later, this is not what I was expecting, but whatever you do, do not disrespect her. When I tell you to do so, bow and say, "I do hereby declare my acceptance of the Covenant and take this male as my Suinima. He will also respond accordingly." She glanced at him, and didn't like seeing the stoic assassin sounding or looking so nervous. He wasn't even like this when it was the squad's shower time.  
  
"I am not going to like the explanation, am I." She gritted out as she continued to watch as more males entered bearing items.  
  
"I doubt it,  but you must do this,  or it will cause an unmitigated interspecies incident of which the Alliance and Council will not look favorably upon."  
  
She wiped her palms again, then felt the tickling sensation in her nose that corresponded with a oncoming sneeze. She tried to hold it back, her eyes began to water,  she felt the pressure building up,  finally she couldn't stop it. Quickly covering her mouth just in time before, "Ahh -- choo".  
  
Everyone stopped and stared. She blinked and dug out a napkin from her pocket. "My apologies Ariki, it is a human condition that comes from a tickling sensation to our nasal passages, sometimes caused by changes in temperature or humidity, air pressure, or a tiny piece of hair, plant pollen, or dust." She didn't see the male beside her blink or the slight wiggle of his own nose. "It is not contagious or a sign of any disease."  
  
"What is this hair you speak of?" The Ariki asked her, looking around to see if there was some foreign substance floating in the air.  
  
Shepard pointed to her head, taking a few strands of her hair and holding it out. "This is hair, a human has it on their head and also in some cases very fine hairs will cover our body. They come loose and fall out,  sometimes the pieces from our heads will fall in a way as to tickle our noses and cause a sneeze."  
  
"I see,  very well,  let us proceed. Before you are Spectre Shepard, Commander of the SSV Normandy and Alexius. As Ariki I have given Alexius unto Spectre Shepard and she has accepted him. Now he is to be her Suinima, let us begin the exchange of the Covenant."  
  
She retrieved a document from a pillow that was brought forth. Read it over, then announced to the assembly of people that Alexius was being given as Suinima in exchange for services rendered and also for the agreement that Shepard continue to look for any of their people that have been taken, bring them back to Kahje, and finding a way to stop the kidnappings. Along with the male, she would receive goods to help her. She was also being presented with gifts from various clans, many of which have had Drell disappearances from them.  
  
The Ariki placed the document on the table and Thane hissed at Shepard to read it over, then to repeat what he told her, place her hand on the document for the processor to register her ID.  
  
She had cleared her throat before she scanned the document. She skimmed it noticing that it hadn't completely translated into her own language and she hadn't a clue what it meant. Shepard bowed, then said, "I, Spectre Shepard, do hereby declare my acceptance of the Covenant and take this male as my Suinima." The Ariki smiled at her and let out a slightly audible sigh, as Shepard placed her hand on the document.  
  
It was given to the male who read it over, his dual toned voice gave out a warble and trill then said, "I, Alexius, do hereby declare my acceptance of the Covenant. This female will be my Viama, and I shall serve her faithfully." Shepard blinked, and let out a slight shiver as the male's voices washed over her. She blushed when he looked over at her and she actually met his eyes. An exquisite shade of pale orchid, such a shocking contrast to the deep, dark lilac of his scales. The slightly lighter lilac coloring of his scale pattern drew her eyes as they wandered over his head and neck.  
  
"Shepard... Shepard." She jumped a bit as she felt Thane poke her in the back to get her attention. She blushed even harder as she caught the smug grin from the Ariki.  
  
"As I was saying, the Covenant has now been accepted by both parties they are now, Niamissa. Congratulations." Sounds of clapping and congratulations were heard.  
  
"I shall have your gifts delivered to your temporary home, along with containers to pack them in. Please let one of the attendants know when you would like them transferred. Alexius,  please tell the attendant in the morning when you are ready to confirm that the Covenant has been solidified."  
  
Alexius gave the Ariki a bow and Shepard quickly followed suit. He turned to Shepard, "Viama, I am glad you accepted the Covenant. My skills are at your disposal. Shall we give our thanks to the guests,  before returning to your quarters." That caused her to blink rapidly up at him. He held out his arm and waited.  
  
"Shepard,  put your hand on top of his and let him guide you. I will be right behind you." Thane whispered to her. She placed her shaky, sweat dampened hand on his, feeling his fingers wrap around the tips of her own. They traveled in a clockwise pattern around the room stopping and giving thanks, accepting the well wishes,  which Shepard had no idea why they were wishing them well other than for the mission ... then shouldn't it have been more like good luck or safe travel or something... maybe it was just a bad translation or the closest the translator could come up with.  
  
"Thank you for the lovely afternoon, Ariki. I do hate to bring business up during this occasion,  but we are in need of some sort of database access to compare what we have found to the people that should or should not have a reason to be at the docks. So far none of your people have gone missing since we have been here, but it may be because we ARE here. The next step will be more remote monitoring. They may make their move on the ships after we depart. But we will be nearby, hopefully to intercept and get more evidence and information."  
  
The Ariki thought for a moment, "yes, that is something that I can provide for you, but it will be limited access to one of your crew, it is after all personal information and can not be discussed outside of the limited scope of the dock investigation."  
  
"Of course, Tali'Zorah, our Quarian Engineer will assume that duty as she is our tech expert."  
  
"Very well,  after Alexius returns from our meeting in the morning one of my attendants will show her to the room. She will however remain under guard and can not make copies of the database. If she finds something one of the guards will copy it for her."  
  
They had just finished speaking with the Ariki when Shepard felt a prickling along her neck, she looked around to see the female that she had rescued standing near an alcove. Shepard's hand involuntarily tightened on Alexius' and he looked up at her following the direction of her gaze.  
  
"Hmmpf ... Viama,  let us adjourn to your quarters." He guided her away from the area.  
  
"Why was she staring at us that way?" Shepard asked him, "she seemed upset about something other than me showing others how childish she was and abusive."  
  
"Yes, I was told about that,  and viewed the footage for myself. You see, up until a few days ago I was to be her Suinima. The Covenant had not been approved by my clan's Matriarch at the time, when she was notified of the disappearance she held off the agreement. When she was shown the footage she was rather disinclined to allow the continuation of talks. When the Ariki proposed a gift Covenant with you, in good faith,  it was quickly agreed upon and I was given a translator so I could communicate with you. You see, the male you rescued was originally from my clan dome. As are several others that are still missing. It was also agreed at the time I was presented to you, should you not be ... hmm, attached to another it would then be as a Suinima or if you already were, then there was the possibility that I would be returned in disgrace to my own clan, unless you were willing to accept me as your Pashi. I believe the closest human term is consort. Luckily for me, I am now your Suinima."  
  
Shepard tripped over an invisible rock in the hallway, stumbling a bit when Alexius was finished explaining a few things. She blinked up at him seeing him smiling down on her,  the gleam of his white teeth visible behind those lush plum colored lips of his. The house attendant open the doors to the lot where there was a transport waiting for the three of them. Thane tried to slip into the front seat beside the guard when he felt a hard pinch on his arm. "You and me are going to have a talk, mister. What the hell have you gotten me in to?" Shepard whispered hoarsely to him,  then slipped into the back seat followed by Alexius.

* * *

  
  
When they arrived to the assigned quarters there were vehicles out front with an almost endless procession of males delivering containers and boxes. The three of them slipped inside and came face to face with the other four staring at them.  
  
Shepard cleared her throat then took on a parade rest stance. "This is Alexius, he will be joining us. Alexius this is the rest of my ground crew. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya,  Engineer and tech expert. Chief Ashley Williams, Systems Alliance Soldier, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, biotic and field medic, Systems Alliance. Officer Garrus Vakarian, C-Sec and Turian sniper, also technician, mechanic, tinkerer of my ship's guns. Thane Krios, um ... contracted Assassin and Infiltrator."  
  
Alexius bowed to them all, "it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Alexius Shepard, Suinima to the Spectre, Viama's bodyguard, and an expert with the Lumoi Roda."

Shepard let out a small squeak when he introduced himself using her surname, "if you will excuse us, Thane and I have a bit of business to discuss." She grabbed Thane's arm and dragged him toward one of the other rooms and slammed the door behind them.

* * *

  
  
"Spill it... what the hell have I done when I followed your advice?"  
  
"Commander,  let me fully explain before you try and kill me." Thane sat on the dining room chair indicating for her to take her own. "I did not lie to you. I will never and can never, as long as our contract is upheld. I honestly thought the male was only going to be a gift, one that you could also rely on in battle,  to guard you when you were off of the Normandy. He would also never lie to you, remember everything he saw or heard to relay to you if you needed him to do so. I presumed he would have been a Consort." He rubbed the back of his head and shifted. "When she brought him forth as your Suinima, I knew if you understood the term you would not agree, it would have caused an incident. One which you would have disgraced not only the male but the Ariki as well. We need her continued good graces."  
  
"What the fuck is a Suinima and why the hell did he say his name was now Shepard?"  
  
Thane cleared his throat and adjusted his coat before answering. "Suinima is the formal Drell word for the first husband of a female of nobility. She has gifted you with a high rank amongst the Drell, and gifted you with a husband of high standing in the Male Hierarchy."  
  
Shepard stared at him wondering if he was joking with her, granted his jokes were of the dry and hard to catch variety, but this was even too much for a joke of Garrus's.  
  
"Commander,  may I see the Covenant? I will then be able to tell you more." She didn't move so he leaned forward,  synced their omni tools and pulled out the copy of the document. Reading it quickly and glancing up at her once in a while to note she had yet to move.  
  
"Oh my, this is unusual. Shepard, she has indeed offered you a rank. She has made you a daughter, a second daughter as a matter of fact. Her oldest daughter was the one that had the servant bring the cleaning solution. The male is the first son of the next highest ranking Matriarch. This is indeed a fine joining. It lists the gifts, including a home in your Suinima's dome, they provided him with gear and his weapons. Hmm, made by Compacted crafters,  they will be of exceptional quality."  
  
"What the hell do you mean by first husband!" Shepard leapt up from the chair, it fell over backwards with a resounding crash. "This can't be happening ... humans got rid of arranged marriages centuries ago,  well to be strictly honest, it's a part of some religions and still practiced in very small areas of Earth."  
  
Shepard's face had started to turn red, sweat starting to form at her temples. "Why the hell is it so hot in here?"  
  
"It is not hot, it is in fact cooler here than what it had been at the gathering." He sat her down and fetched her a bottle of water. "Drink this, it may just be your body's reaction to this news." He sat back down and finished telling her of what exactly that document contained.  
  
"I can't believe this... I can't believe you didn't warn me,  but had instead told me just to do it." She gulped down her water, "I can't believe I trusted you and did it."  
  
"Commander, please if there had been prior warning I would have told you, explained it. But if you had just said no, turning down her generous offering, it would have caused an extremely serious problem. Disgracing royalty of another species would have brought severe consequences."  
  
"What if I was already in a relationship? What do you think my partner would feel, one minute being committed to them then all of a sudden having a husband? Did anyone take that into consideration? Did anyone bother to even ask me? Thane,  most humans do not get married and have someone on the side. For the most part humans are a monogamous society, granted there are exceptions in all societies, but I am not one of them."  
  
Thane looked down at his folded hands; he had no response to that.  
  
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. This whole thing is just too much." Shepard had her head cradled in the palm of one hand, her fingers rubbing at her temple.  
  
"Shepard, I... I am sorry. I do not know what to say to you."  
  
Shepard laid her head on the table and let out a sigh, "and here I thought the day couldn't get much worse after that Hanar smeared me with cake."  
  
She heard him shift in his chair and let out a groan, "oh God; there's more isn't there?"  
  
"The two of you are Niamissa, married. But the Covenant has not yet been solidified. Until it is you are in a ... precarious situation. The younger daughter, the one that you rescued, if she has enough males or she hires assassins through the Compact, she could send one or more of them to ... remove you and regain her position as second daughter. Although to be honest, it would be rather foolish of her to try considering everyone in this home is a warrior of great skill. That is not to say by her previous actions that she won't try."  
  
He cleared his throat, his ribbing expanded slightly and his eyes started blinking, "you may not want to hear this, but tonight, you must ... consummate the marriage. Once he has taken you and brought you to climax he will release inside of you,  once that occurs the bond is complete. Your place secured as is his. Should any of the younger females try to displace you there will be repercussions against them."  
  
"I need a drink." He picked up the bottle of water and held it out to her,  she let out a soft laugh, "no, not water. Alcohol, and lots of it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains smut. 
> 
> Fair warning. I used a lot of creative licensing in this story containing matters of Drell anatomy.
> 
> I got to thinking, which is sometimes a terrible thing for me since my imagination starts to run rampant, that what if the Drell anatomy concerning their genitalia was more like Turian than Human. I usually write them as having external organs, but what if having evolved on an arid, harsh world they evolved to have them as internal.
> 
> So this one thought caused my imagination to go into overdrive concerning their genitals and how they have sex.
> 
> This is the result.

* * *

 

 Alexius stood staring at the slammed door for a minute then turned back to the remaining members of the group.  
  
"Uh... welcome to the team," Ash said to him, watching as the parade of goods continued to stream through the door.  
  
"Thank you, Chief Williams. If you will excuse me I must start separating Viama's gifts into what would be appropriate to bring and what should be sent to our home." He bowed to them then walked to a male that held a datapad on a small pillow.  
  
"Did he just say, their home? What the hell is a Viama,  my translator just made a stuttering noise and no actual translation," Kaidan whispered to their group.  
  
"What the hell do you mean by the first husband!" The crew heard Shepard's shout through the closed door of the dining room.  
  
"Oh, Keelah..."  
  
"Wait, what the hell did she mean by husband?" Kaidan rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand."That can't be right... can it?"  
  
Alexius turned toward the room with a frown on his face and started to walk toward the room. "Uh, I wouldn't go in there if I was you. She won't like it. When she takes one of the crew into a room for a dressing down or a private conversation she'll close the door,  it's her way of saying do not disturb," Ash said to him. "I would wait until she comes out."  
  
He blinked at her then gave her a slight bow. "Please tell me which of these room belongs to Viama, I must change into my armor to prepare for an assault against us by the displaced second daughter."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Garrus asked him as he drew closer,  his mandibles flicked and he adjusted the collar of his light armor.  
  
"Hmm, I suppose as you could be considered her protectors as well as her crew it will be up to you to protect us as we consummate the marriage. Until our bond has become solidified,  she and I are in great danger.  During this evening as we mate,  we will be at our most vulnerable,  the bonding can not be interrupted once begun. The young female has been displaced as a second daughter to the Ariki, Viama is now her second. The youngest may retaliate, attacking us, should she succeed in assassinating Viama she will regain her position. Along with all of Viama's legal possessions."  
  
"That includes you?"  
  
"Yes, Officer Vakarian." Alexius did his best not to let his sub vocals show his disgust and worry to the one person in the room that would be able to hear it.  
  
Garrus turned to Ash and Kaidan, "Ash take over for Tali at the monitors. She has that drone that can be used as a weapon, Kaidan has his biotics. I'll start rigging trip wires. Shepard has her pistol." He turned back toward Alexius as the others scrambled, "Do you have weapons available?"  
  
"I do Officer; I shall keep them in the room with us. But as I said, once begun, our mating can not stop. If they should attack as I am knotted inside of her, there will be nothing either of us can do to prevent her death or both of our deaths should it have been ordered."  
  
"That won't happen." Garrus headed towards the crate that had the rest of their surveillance gear and started going through what was left.

* * *

  
Shepard and Thane walked out to a flurry of activity. She noticed Alexius was in a set of leathers, identical but for color, to the ones that Thane wore. On his hands looked to be thick leather and metal gauntlets. "What is going on here?"  
  
"Viama, we are preparing to repel attacks." Alexius came over to her and gave her a bow, taking her hand in his and dropping his forehead onto it. She noticed there were what looked like thick,  cuff like bracelets hanging loosely around the gauntlets.  
  
"I shall go help with preparations and check the perimeter," Thane said and slipped out the side door.  
  
"Viama, I have begun separating your gifts,  please let me show you. As I was not informed if you had a separate residence other than our home in the Northern dome, I requested for them to move the household items there tomorrow morning." He handed her a data pad that listed everything from silverware and bedsheets to potted plants and various pieces of furniture. "Three house staff have been gifted to us as well, they will take care of our home and keep it prepared for us."  
  
"I can't afford to feed and clothe three extra people, the Alliance and Council don't pay a lot. Everything I need is provided with just a bit of pay." She started rubbing her forehead,  then dabbed another cloth against her temples. "How am I supposed to see to their needs?"  
  
Alexius tipped her head up to him gently, "Viama, there is no need to worry so about your servants. You are a member of the ruling house,  as such you are given a small tribute yearly by the other clans. It is up to you to decide what that tribute is to be. If you wish you may request food and clothing for your household. So generous to worry about others, not yourself. I have indeed become a lucky Suinima." He caught and held her eyes, his gauntlet brushed gently over her skin of her cheek. He saw her swallow and leaned in, barely brushing her lips with his own.  
  
His second kiss was longer, his mouth pressing to hers as their eyes closed, he felt something warm and moist touch his lips. He opened his eyes to see hers still closed, he felt it again and she pressed against his mouth a bit harder. He opened his mouth a bit and felt something slip between his lips, brushing against his tongue. He heard a light moan come from her and realized it must be her own tongue now inside his mouth caressing his own. He mirrored her movements eliciting another groan from her, her hands coming up to rest on his chest as he once again closed his eyes and concentrated on the movements of her mouth against his.  
  
"Oops, sorry guys." Ashley came around the corner. 

Shepard's eyes popped open, Alexius kept kissing her until she gently pushed against him. He immediately stopped and opened his eyes staring down into her own.

"Just wanted to let you know, that we are having problems with a few of the shipping dock's cameras."  
  
Shepard stepped back from Alexius then turned to face Ashley, her face flaming red. "Can it wait until morning?" She started to blink rapidly, small swirls of colors dancing in front of her eyes.  
  
"Not sure, Skipper. The docks have been more active today than before. It might lead to the ones we are looking for to act. Several are matches to what they are looking for,  but without eyes down there." Ash shrugged, careful not to look toward Alexius who had stepped closer to Shepard and for some reason started sniffing her neck. Shepard gave a shudder as his lips grazed her.  
  
"Alright,  I'll monitor the cameras while you go fix them,  keep your comms open. Notify Joker as well to monitor ships leaving the docks." Ash turned from her and headed for the doorway after grabbing a set of tools.  
  
"Viama, will you do that again?" He whispered to her from where he had his nose buried against her neck. "What is this scent? Never have I smelled the like before, so sweet yet floral."  
  
"Do what again?" She shivered as once again his lips brushed the sensitive area on her neck,  her nipples had started to become over sensitive where they were brushing against her lacy bra. The swirls were becoming brighter, moving faster. Her body heating and becoming damp in her most private places.  
  
"Will you allow my kiss again, the same way? It was... intriguing and quite pleasant what you were teaching me. I would like to do it again, learn more so I can please you. With your permission." He was watching how her skin would break out in small bumps and she would shiver as his breath stirred the tiny... hairs,  yes that was the word for them,  along her neck.  
  
"I... I have to go to the monitoring room, I can not become distracted right now." She blinked again, "this may sound strange, but, do you see all those swirling colors in the room?"  
  
"I do not, Viama. Do you wish for me to send for a physician to attend you?" Alexius was holding her hand again,  a drawn expression on his face.  
  
"Don't worry about it Alex. I will contact my ship's medic." She gave him a weak smile then removed her hand from his.

"Alex? Do you wish to call me this instead of Alexius or Suinima?"  
  
"Alex is a shortened form; I do that for some of my crew. If you prefer for me to use your full given name I will do so,  I didn't mean it to be disrespectful."  
  
"I will answer to whatever you wish, Viama. Though forgive me for being presumptuous, but I do have have a preference for Suinima. It is my honor to be yours; I wish for others to know I belong to one such as you." Once again he gave her that smile, a fluttering sensation started in her lower abdomen.  
  
"Hmm, I would like to call you Alex, for now. I am still... processing the suddenness of the marriage. But I will keep your preference in mind. I really need to get to the monitors."  As she walked to the door she heard him behind her and turned. "Alex? What are you doing?"  
  
"I am guarding you, Viama. It is part of my Covenant to you, I am pleased to fulfill my duty to you."

She rubbed her head and sighed. "Alex,  I can take care of myself. You do not need to follow me everywhere."  
  
He hung his head and took a step back, "as you command, Viama," he said quietly.

"Alex,  I'm a soldier. I'm used to taking care of myself. On the battlefield the team watches each other's back,  but I am not used to having a guard around all the time. How about instead you help me monitor the cameras,  while I am helping Ash you can watch the other docks."  
  
His head raised and his back straightened, "yes, Viama. This I can do."

* * *

  
  
She handed him a data pad, "look through these. If you spot any of them on the cameras make a note of time, which dock and what they were doing. If you see any Drell that matches these," she gave him another pad, "keep an eye on who is nearby, see if they are paying an inordinate amount of attention to them." 

He nodded then looked carefully over the information. Shepard could tell he was taking this very seriously by the way he studied each holo.  
  
"Ash, you on the dock yet?"  
  
"Almost, Skipper. Traffic is heavy,  probably because of the luncheon you attended."

Shepard let out a snort, "eyes open, Chief."  
  
"Guys,  how are your preparations coming?" Shepard asked over the comm as she wheeled her chair over next to Alexius and showed him how to adjust the cameras.  
  
"Perimeter is clear so far, Shepard. I do not expect attacks during the day, it will be at night when you are more vulnerable that we have the greater chance of coming under attack. The normal guards should be a non issue,  it is any that she has contracted with that will bring the real danger." Thane's voice came over the comm. It had started her thinking.  
  
"I don't want them hurt or killed. Disarm and disable only. It is not their fault that they were ordered to attack by her. They have probably not come up against one's trained for outright combat before. Thane you're the only one that would spot the ones that are professionals. I would rather not have them harmed if at all possible, they are just doing a job, but if it looks like disabling them will not be possible, then take them out quick and clean."  
  
"Yes, Commander."

* * *

  
  
"Skipper,  something isn't right here. These cameras aren't damaged,  but someone disconnected them," Ash said as she reconnected the vid and audio transmitters back on to the camera.  
  
"Sounds like they are going to be making a move. I'll go back over the footage from earlier and see what happened between the time Tali signed out and you signed on. We might be able to catch something from one of the feeds. Looks like only the camera above the third loading bay is left."  
  
"On it, Commander."  
  
Shepard went back to looking over her feeds and watched as Ash came into view from a different angle.  
  
"Viama, excuse me, but I would like to ask a question. Why are you looking at some of these Drell? I recognize a few of them. Two are from our dome, one belongs to one of the lower females, the other is from my Matriarch's household."  
  
"Because Alex, someone that has access to all three docks is working for the slavers, or they are working for someone who is. The ones on that datapad, have been at the docks, every day, every shift when the targets have also been there. Or they have been to the passenger or private docks every time a ship comes in or goes out. Take a look at the shipping dock list and see if you recognize any of those,  we won't be getting access to the data files on these until tomorrow but if you could help us out with names or anything that would save us some time and maybe get a decent lead."  
  
"Garrus, do you still have those spare temporary comms with you? If so I need for you to hook Alex up with one so he can hear what is going on. I completely forgot that other than the translator he has no comm or omni tool."  
  
"He has no omni tool either? Spirits, alright the comm we can take care of now. The omni tool though can't be done. No spare ones that are working... I sort of took the old ones apart to try and get enough spare parts to fix one or two of the better quality ones for emergencies." She was watching the camera and let Ash know the other was working again and to head back.

"Garrus, once Ash is back come on in and get him set up,  you'll need to explain everything to him."  
  
"Copy that, Commander."

* * *

  
  
She watched from the living room couch as Garrus instructed Alexius on the comm,  showed him how to change comm codes,  which codes were for team during battles and which were private lines. Then Tali and Garrus dragged him over to a terminal his head moving side to side as each of them bombarded him with intel on various omni tools,  their suggestions for him,  then got into a heated debate on which was better the Logic Arrest tool or the Nexus. Shepard yelled at them to calm down she was getting him an HMOT Master Spectre grade and they could tinker with it to their heart's content as long as they didn't break it.  
  
"You know, Shepard," Garrus came sauntering over, "I could use a new omni tool too."

She raised her eyebrow at him,  trying to keep her lips from twitching into a smile. She got up smoothly from the couch and walked toward him, her hips swaying, "Well, big boy, if you want one that bad." She walked the fingers of her right hand up his arm, "fork over the 220,000 credits and I'll get you one."  
  
Neither one could hold in their laughter any longer and Tali could even be heard laughing from the other side of the room. "Harsh, Shepard. Real harsh." Garrus's mandibles were clicking away. 

"You'll get over it Garrus. But I'll see what we can do to start upgrading everyone's equipment soon. We really haven't had that much of a chance to purchase things, and those slavers didn't have much in the way of credits on them. But I'm owed a few things from the Council so will take what I can get to bring Alex up to speed in tech. His armor and weapons were provided to him by our Covenant,  and according to Thane,  they are made from their best crafters."  
  
She looked over at Alexius who was looking between her and Garrus. "Which reminds me, none of us have seen what you use as a weapon. After dinner when all of us are gathered would you mind showing them to us?"  
  
"Of course not, Viama. It would be an honor."

* * *

  
  
This was the first time that Alexius ate with them, he noticed no one served Shepard. He looked at the long table, one end had containers of food on warming units,  with a smaller version kept separate that was for Garrus. Everyone just grabbed a plate taking what they wanted before sitting. Tali,  had several bottles of something along with tubes in her hands as she sat down at the table.  
  
"Viama,  I do not understand. Where is your attendant? Why is no one serving you?" He asked her after she told him to get in line behind her.

"Because this is how we do it on the Normandy,  I am not one that needs to be waited on hand and foot. I don't like it. Tomorrow we will go over some things that you will need to get used to, it will give you time to ask questions and ponder my answers before actually boarding the vessel." She handed him a plate and he almost dropped it, "take whatever you want, as much as you think you can eat. Try not to waste it. Normally it would just be recycled on board,  but here it is gathered up and usually Thane would take it to one of the small homes that cares for the... less fortunate children." He blinked at her,  he didn't know she knew about the small shelters that were on the fringes of the domes, the ones that took in the children that had medical issues and were rejected for service.

* * *

  
  
After dinner all of them gathered in the living room, after the men moved some of the furnishings to the side.  She wanted to go outside to watch Alexius show his weapons, but listened when Thane told her it would put both of them in more danger from a sniper. Inside at least,  with the window's opaqued it would be harder for an assassin to get to them.  
  
"The weapons are called Lumoi Roda," he grasped each of his wrists with the opposite hand and pulled. The bracelets she saw snapped apart and a glowing circle shot from the one end to connect to the other end,  creating a ring of intense blue-white light.  
  
"I have heard of these,  but no one in the Compact while I was under going training used them."  
  
"That is understandable Sere Krios, they are difficult to master, the blades have been known to sever the user's fingers, at times their whole hands if caught wrong when they return. My Matriarch is one of only two with a competent trainer for them. The others would have them train with live weapons, which is when the accidents always occurred. My master was different, as was his. They trained us on specially made light weight wood, then rounded metal. It would leave marks on us,  but those lessons were learned well. Only a select few made it to using live weapons such as these, and only after years of exhaustive training."  
  
He rotated the weapons careful of the blue-white, laser-like light coming from the ends. "The light you see, is in fact a superheated laser, strong and hot enough to cut through bone and sinew, cauterizing it immediately. The brighter the light of the weapons the stronger the laser. My previous weapons were darker blue than this, these looks like it would have no trouble cutting through metal or anything that needs to be dealt with."  
  
"The gauntlets are necessary even to activate the weapons, should anyone try and remove them from me they will find nothing more than what appears to be trinket quality bracelets. The gauntlets are DNA coded; I have specially designed implants in my arms to be able to activate them. They are made of non-reactive metal, and are harmless unless we activate them."  
  
He shut one down and placed it on the table, Garrus looked at him then gestured to it. Alexius nodded, and Garrus picked it up, looking closer and couldn't see any switches or buttons to turn it on.  
  
Garrus cleared his throat, "Spirits, that's what they were... a few years ago there was a Drell that came through C-Sec. He had something similar, but he didn't have those thick gauntlets, just a set of thick leather gloves with bracelets on them. When we stopped and asked him to pass through the scanner looking for weapons, nothing showed up so we let him go. A few people showed up in the morgue, known red sand dealers, with missing hands, one was missing an ear. The wounds were sealed over,  no one could figure it out."  
  
"Would this have been approximately six years ago?" Alexius shut down the other bracelet and placed them back where they belonged. 

Garrus nodded, "yeah that sounds about right."  
  
"One of the other Matriarchs lost her three daughters and one son to a privateer. Turned out that privateering vessel was owned by a criminal that ran a red sand ring. They were on their way to a small enclave of Drell on one of the other planets, hoping for a Covenant for the daughters, they needed new blood lines added. They did not make it. Their vessel was found abandoned, the male had been killed outright. The females were... not so lucky. They had been violated in the most horrific way, then their throats slit, their nude bodies left to rot in the ship. The Drell you saw had been contracted to find and bring to justice the ones behind the act. He did so."  
  
Everyone had grown quiet. Shepard cleared her throat and looked at him, "you said "when caught," so those are throwing style weapons? Similar to the boomerangs that Earth's Aboriginal people use?"  
  
"Viama, I do not know what a boomerang is, but yes they can be thrown and will return if I call for them. They can also embed in objects and remain there until recalled. The quality of these weapons will give me a better chance at hand to hand with them; they are powerful enough to cut through gun barrels along with armors."  
  
Kaidan let out a snort, "I don't believe that. There isn't a laser that small that would be strong enough or the Geth would already be using it."

Alexius just blinked at him and straightened. "I do not lie."  
  
"Garrus, go into my room, and bring me the blue bag that is in the closet." Garrus looked between the three of them then hurried to do as she asked. When he dropped the bag onto the small table she unzipped it drawing out a small case, her pistol was inside along with a few mods, drawing out a spare extended barrel she tossed it to Alex. "Show us."  
  
Without missing a beat he drew one of the bracelets off his wrist, activated it, tossed the barrel into the air, neatly slicing it in two on the way down. His eyes never leaving Alenko's.  
  
"Spirits..." Garrus rubbed his fringe.

Shepard looked at Alex with a smirking grin on her face. "Very impressive, Alex."

He returned her grin then gave her a bow, "I aim to please you, Viama."  
  
Garrus let out a flanging laugh.  
  
"Alex,  you mentioned recognizing several of the Drell from the holos, do you know if there is a common link other than two were from the Northern dome?"  
  
He closed his eyes, "we are missing 10 Drell from our dome, Viama. Three from my Matriarch's household, the rest are from the various lower Matriarchs. Although one I believe had been bought as a Secunima,  a second husband, for one of the lowest ranked females." He frowned a bit, "yes, that day several of the Matriarchs had gathered. My youngest brother of marriageable age and several others from the household,  along with those of various others gathered, bringing with them ones for the marriage market. This female was of the lowest rank,  barely above one of the common females of no noble birth. She placed a bid on my brother, grew angry when it was dismissed as she was not of high enough rank and should not have placed the bid at all." He blinked, rubbed the back of his head then closed his eyes again. "She placed several other bids on various males, well above her rank and means. She ended up buying one of the older males, she paid in credits,  waiving aside the Covenant agreement. At the time I heard several Matriarchs ponder where she had come up with those funds,  but as it was not my place to inquire. I put aside the memory."  
  
"Hmm, we may need to take a trip to the dome tomorrow. I want to get a look at this female if we can, covertly. See if any of the others that are on those holos are connected to her, find out where she got those credits. Tali can help with that. She will have access to the database and can look up the information. Just let her know the name of the female and males." He bowed and went to do as she requested  
  
Garrus and Kaidan went to take first watch as it has started to grow dark, now was the time for them to be on their guard. They surmised it will be in the dead of night when everyone was supposed to be asleep or at their tiredest that they would be attacked. Ashley and Thane had already headed to their rooms to get a few hours of sleep as they had second shift.  
  
She waited until they were alone before asking Alex to sit with her. "Alex, I am going to be honest with you. I am very unsure about what to expect. This was quite a surprise as I was not informed in advance... you were sprung on me at the luncheon and I was not prepared."  
  
He looked at her then away, "I am unsure as well, Viama. I was told two days ago that I would no longer be Suinima to the Ariki's daughter but to a Human. They need not tell me at all,  but as this was entirely different than just giving me to a different female of nobility. A Human female, facing the slavers taking not only her own people but mine as well. They showed me the footage of you rescuing the others, demonstrated how you cared for the male. Shown us how the Ariki's daughter did not." He rubbed his hands nervously over the leather armor covering his thighs. "They took me for the implant. I was... afraid of what was going to happen; I had never seen a Human before. There was no one they could consult with on Human behaviors other than what the rumors were, which seemed to confuse my Matriarch. Your actions were different then what we had assumed a Humans would be. There was also no one to inform me of how to consummate the marriage with a Human or what to expect."  
  
Then it dawned on her, what he had said earlier about the kiss. Neither one knew what to expect sexually from the other. She cleared her throat, "so we are both unsure. Thane told me that until we do this,  that our marriage isn't completely official. I didn't want to ask him but, if we do not consummate the marriage what will happen?"

She felt him jerk, "tomorrow, I meet with the Ariki, they will question me to ascertain if we bonded. I can not lie. If we do not and there is no medical concern involved,  then ... then I will be disgraced. Returned to my dome and face severe punishment for my failing to serve. My Matriarch will need to pay the Ariki reparations."  
  
"What would this punishment be?" she asked quietly,  rubbing her forehead.

"I would be displaced as first son, removed entirely from the records as if I had never been born, then given into the lowest of the households in the farthest dome to be put to work." He turned to her, his dual voices held a terrified quality, shaking from his fright. "Please, Viama, I will do anything you ask. You just need to teach me, I will do it, I will never forget. I have been given a great honor, I will learn to please you, just give me a chance."  
  
She held up a hand and he quieted immediately, "easy. It's alright. I just needed to know why it was so important that it had to take place tonight. It's ...  I'm not used to having sex with someone I just met, well not while sober anyway, and not with someone that wasn't a Human. So I guess we will both be learning, since other than the very brief glimpses I have had of Thane as he raced by the shower stalls heading to the one furthest away, I don't even know what Drells look like under their clothing."  
  
Alex's brows drew down. "Thane, he attends to your showers?"

She shot a glance at him, "no, not like that. The Normandy is equipped with one shower, it is unisex, everyone uses it. Males and females both. It is not sexual, as the Alliance has fraternization rules on board that sort of thing... technically... doesn't go on. Thane is part of my squad. Garrus, Ashley, Thane and I are set to use the shower at the same time, four stalls for four people. Tali is the only one not to have to share as she will become very ill should that happen. We shower separate but at the same time."  
  
He was rubbing his head and then scratched at his crown ridge, "there is much that I will need to learn when I leave here. I have never been away from Kahje or on a ship other than the small transports that go from dome to dome."  
  
She gave a small laugh, "don't worry you can ask me anything. If I'm not there, you can ask any of the ground crew. You'll get to know the others eventually."  
  
"All clear out here so far, Shepard. Garrus rigged up some sort of alarm using the rest of the electronics we were able to bring down. Hopefully it will give us enough warning." Kaidan said over the comms sounding like he was either anxious because of not having a weapon other than his biotics to rely on or he was getting one of his migraines.

"It will give us a small amount of warning against close attack but none against a sniper, Shepard." Garrus' flanging voice chimed in right afterward. "It's the best I could do under the circumstances. If we had the rest of our equipment and weapons there wouldn't be an issue."  
  
"Just do what you can,  overload the weapons if they got 'em then knock them out, if possible. If they get past you they have to make it past the others before getting to Alex and I. This shouldn't be even be much of a challenge unless there are compacted assassins in the bunch." She stood up and waved at Alexius to follow her back to the monitoring room, stopping on the way to grab a bottle of cold water and splash her face with cool water. "Sorry,  I've been feeling very hot lately. I'm not ill, just hot." She patted her face with a disposable towel and sighed.  
  
"Come sit with me and watch this footage, I'm not sure if you heard earlier but Ashley said the cameras were disconnected not damaged,  so there may be footage of who did it. If you see anything or anyone that you recognize doing something out of the ordinary let me know."  
  
An hour later, Alexius pointed at the screen, "Viama, stop the playback please. This one I recognize." He was pointing at a frail looking male Drell, "this one, he is one from the Tauvda household. The one that tried to purchase my brother." They watched as the male walked past one of the cameras several times before glancing around and reaching up to pull on one of the connections, the camera wobbled then displayed static.  
  
Shepard smiled at him,  her eyes crinkling in the corners, "well done, Alex. Let's get this copied. Then I want you to take this with you in the morning,  tell the Ariki it is something from me and would like her permission to investigate this further." She leaned over and kissed his frill, he let out a small hum. 

"Viama ...", he whispered his eyes growing glassy as his gaze flickered from hers to her lips. She brushed her finger across his full lips then leaned in placing a gentle kiss upon them.

  
She left a note for Tali that she would be accompanying Alex in the morning to go to see the Ariki, she outlined what the limitations were for access to the database and made sure to note to run inquires on Tauvda.  
  
She stood up and held out her hand with a smile, he trilled and swallowed placing his own in hers. In their room she checked the windows to make sure they were locked before turning on the lights. Their door was closed and locked then she turned to him, "I will be right back, I need to prepare. If it would be alright, will you please only remove your gauntlets." She cleared her throat. "I'll be right back." She beat a hasty retreat into the connected bathroom.  
  
After using the facilities and washing her hands she splashed more cool water on her overheated face. "I can do this... I can do this... just like shore leave. Those times when I wanted to get laid and picked up someone in the bar. Nothing different... except he's an alien and my husband. I got to remember he's my husband ... I should kill Thane for getting me into this shit. Why the hell didn't I ask what was going on? But noooo... dumbass, trusting me just went along with it."  
  
She heaved out a huge sigh, then ran her hands down her clothing. Alexius was standing near a set of crates that had been delivered earlier; she saw him pick up a large metal box and carry it to the bed, carefully placing the gauntlets inside before closing the case and placing it on the small table near the bed.  
  
He turned to face her, and she gave him a tremulous smile, "you look as scared as I feel, Alex." His ribbing flushed a darker red, almost the color of Thessia Red wine.  
  
"Viama, I am scared that I will not please you, without bringing you pleasure, I will not be able to satisfy the requirements of the bond fully."

She walked over to him and held his hand, patting the place beside her on the bed where she just sat down. "Explain to me exactly what is required to fulfill the bond. If I know what is needed, I may be able to guide you better."  
  
"I must mate with you; I must bring you to... to, I do not know the word for it other than pleasure, when I do that, then part of the bond is done, after that, I am to release inside of you. Once my body empties, the actual chemical bonding will take place while we sleep."  
  
"I think the word you are looking for is orgasm, where I find my own release?"  He nodded at her, listening to every word she said. "Okay, this may sound a bit strange, but do you need to be inside of me when that happens? The reason I ask is there are several ways to bring a Human female to orgasm while not actually being inside of her."  
  
This made him gasp, "Viama, is this true?"

She gave a slight laugh and nodded to him. "I don't think you will have to worry on that account."

He looked down; she started rubbing her thumb on the back of his, "Viama, I think I do need to be inside. The release you have is what triggers my knot to form."  
  
"Uhh ... knot. You'll have to explain that to me as I don't know about that." Her cheeks were red as the carpet beneath her feet.

"I will form a knot, an enlarged area that is inside of you; it will keep me from leaving before the bonding is complete. There would be no mistakes. If the knot does not form, no bond can take place."  
  
"Okay, okay. We can do this. We have all night right. If it doesn't work the first time, we can try again?" He nodded looking down at the carpet. Neither one moved for at least five minutes, both hesitating.  
  
"Okay, this isn't working." She gave a laugh. "I liked your kisses earlier. Would you like to start there?" He nodded eagerly. She quirked her eyebrow at him and pulled him to his feet. She moved her hand gently over his frill and he closed his eyes and sighed, a low hum came from him,  barely audible. He leaned in toward her, catching the same sweet floral scent as before. His senses heightened and he brushed his lips against hers. This time it was him that swept his tongue along the seam of her mouth, asking for entrance which she gladly gave him.  
   
Their tongues meshed as she gathered his hands in hers,  placing them on her waist just above her hips. Her own found their way to his chest before drifting over the leather to encircle his neck. He was a quick learner,  his tongue twisting around hers, running over the tops of her teeth before returning to stroke along hers. Shepard let out a soft moan and broke the kiss, "if you keep kissing me like that, I don't think we are going to have any problems at all." She smiled up at him.  
  
She took a step back and showed him how the top closure of her coat opened,  then brought up his hands to the next one. Those purple eyes blinked at her, then concentrated on trying to open it. He fumbled, she took his hands in hers and showed him how again. The next one and every one after that came quickly undone. She moved his hands to her shoulders,  under the coat. He slowly pushed it down off of her, landing on the floor.  
  
Under it, she had on a tank top and her dog tags. He touched the metal, "Viama,  what is this collar?"  
  
"This isn't a collar, Alex,  these are Identification tags. If I should fall in battle, these would be how my remains are identified. This is sometimes all that can be found, and returned to our families. It contains a chip with my vital information. Name, Rank, serial number, and blood type." She flipped them over so he could see the back, one had N7 in white on a black background, a small red symbol beside of it, "this one is a vocational code within the Alliance,  the N you see stands for Special Operative, the 7 is for the highest level of proficiency. Only graduates of that program can wear this symbol." She pointed to the other one, "this one designates me as a Spectre." He leaned in close and looked at the symbol, a silver circle with a black background,  what seemed like a set of white wings with a broken circle under them.  
  
He stood up straight again, his eyes traveling over her partially exposed body, his eyes flicked to hers then back down to the two bumps on her chest. "We'll get to those in a minute." She reached up undoing the catches on the arm guards letting them fall, then looked for a way to remove the coat when it wouldn't budge from his shoulders.  
  
"Show me?"  
  
He took her hands and guided them to each of the snaps, buckles, and straps that held the jacket so close to his body. The leather jacket puddled on the floor as she drew it from his shoulders and down his arms.  
  
He was muscular, his arms and shoulders solid, well toned but not bulky, the dark purple of his scales contrasting with the light tone of her skin as she ran her hands over him. He kept blinking rapidly and his breathing became a bit ragged as she moved her hands on him. She found the straps and the hidden buckles for his vest and quickly removed it. Dropping it to the floor as well.  
  
Her gaze fell to his chest, his pectorals were well defined, yet lacking the nipples of her own species. "You are different here than humans. Your scales are smooth, and very cool to my touch. Where as our skin is smooth, but on males it is sometimes rough, and warm." She traced his pattern, the stripes angling down his body, curving over his chest and sides, "these are beautiful,  Humans have no such markings unless they are physically applied to them. We are plain, mono colored. But your species are like gemstones, so many brilliant colors, in so many combinations." She let her hands slide over his abdominal muscles, so tight and defined, his body shuddering as her nails scraped against him. His colors were lighter here then even those of his markings, where they were just a bit paler of a lilac color, the stomach area and what is below his waistband was almost a light cream with just a tinge of purple.  
  
She leaned in close, her nose and lips grazing his chest as she took in his scent, "your scent reminds me of Oakmoss and Patchouli from my homeworld. Maybe a hint of lavender." She gave a light laugh. She circled around to his back, moving her hands from shoulder to waist. She felt the shudder and rippling of muscles under his skin and scales. Her hand caressed his firm ass as she moved back in front of him,  causing him to gasp.  
  
"I can see why the girl had looked at me earlier with that frown upon her face. She wanted you. You are magnificent." His ribbing flushed, and she heard a warble as he looked down. She leaned in, drawing him down for another intoxicating kiss.  
  
"Commander, the furthest trip wire just signaled an intruder. You must complete the bond, and you must do it quickly. We will hold them but it must be now, I'm sorry Commander." Thane's voice came over their comms.

They broke the kiss and stared at each other, "do you want to redress and fight? Or should we keep going?"  
  
He hesitated, "Viama, I would prefer to complete the bond. If we fight and something should happen to either of us, it will have consequences. If we can achieve the bond then at least only the ones attacking will suffer the outcome of what they are doing."  
  
"Alright,  I wish we had more time to explore each other,  but that will come later. Finish undressing we need to hurry." She shook her head as the colors swirled around her again, quickly sitting on the bed to remove their shoes then the rest of their garments. While he was peeling off the tight fitting leather pants she grabbed the cover and blankets yanking them down then got into the bed. He glanced up and watched for a few seconds as she ran her hands along her own body. He moved in beside her and she caught a fleeting glimpse of his body noticing no external genitalia on him.  
  
"You have to prepare me, or it will hurt, we don't have a lot of time, so I'll help." She ran her fingers along the outer folds of her center, heat met her fingers, but only a slight dampness. She grabbed his hand and guided his fingers, showing how to stroke and thrust inside.  
  
"Viama, you're so warm here." He kept fingering her as she showed him, he found the tiny nub and brushed across it with his thumb sending a shiver through her body. There was a gunshot and a flare of answering biotics outside the window.  
  
"Kiss me, Alex." He bent to do as she commanded and her hand grazed him between his legs,  he let out a soft moan when she found the slight bump. Smooth and warming to her touch,  she felt the slightest division on it. Similar to the small dividing line of his lip. A loud pop and bright flare was closer to the house than before.  
  
"We're out of time, Alex. Just be as careful as you can. We can take our time later." She looked toward the window as he moved between her legs.

"I am sorry, Viama. I do so wish this would have been something you had wanted."  
  
Her attention was brought back to him, "Alex, I wish they would have told me,  let me get to know you instead of springing you on me knowing that to refuse would cause an incident I couldn't afford. True the circumstances suck, I wish we could have gotten to know each other before doing this, so there was more depth of meaning to our first time. But we can build on it, make it better as time goes." She reached up and brushed her hand along his ribbing.  
  
He leaned in, kissing her, she felt him separate the outer folds of her center. He glanced down, and she saw him close his eyes for just a second, then when he opened them, she felt the gentlest of nudges at her opening. He sighed then leaned forward again, kissing her and running his hand along her waist, then her thigh, pressing tight against her opening.  
  
She felt a deep throbbing hum start from his chest, and he groaned. "So warm, Viama. So smooth." He shifted her legs to wrap high around his waist and he let out a slight grunt. She felt an odd sensation, something moving inside of her but not stretching, just moving deeper within. She gasped as she felt what she guessed was his cock nudge the small rough patch. He glanced down at her, "Viama, are you ok?  I am not hurting you am I?  
  
"No, no Alex. Keep going." His cock brushed that spot again and she let out a loud groan. His eyes closed and he let out a sigh when she brushed her fingers along his ribbing. A few seconds later she felt another nudge this one harder, a slight pressure held against what she was sure was her cervix. The swirling of colors grew more hectic and the heat that she had been experiencing for days grew stronger.  
  
He started to pant and groan, and he began to feel different. He was growing larger, stretching her. "Oh  God," she moaned as she felt something massaging her inner folds, constantly rubbing against her erotic zone. "More, Alex," her groans were getting louder. He leaned on his forearms and buried his head in her neck,  his panting breaths and moans filled the air around her. She started to rub his shoulders and side,  her nails scraping his back when the feeling of him moving in her intensified. Gripping his waist as he hissed in her ear before kissing her again. Her legs tightened around him as she arched into him.  
  
"Viama, I do not know how long I can hold. This is not how they told me bonding would be." He grunted into her neck, and she felt him grow even larger.

"Touch me,  like earlier." She groaned as he shifted, he pressed further inside of her,  keeping the pressure tight against her cervix. She swore if it wasn't an impossibility for him to do so, that he was actually trying to get inside her womb itself. Then she lost all train of thought as he brushed against her little bundle of nerves at the same time his cock was rubbing against her inner spot.  
  
He looked down at her, her body starting to glisten with sweat, his fingers moving faster, harder against her. A loud crash sounded close to the front of the house. "Don't stop, Alex. Keep going, God, that feels so good."

She was panting trying to grind into him, but he held her firm. Her body started to shake and tighten around his, his eyes focused on her face. Then her back bowed as she let out soundless cry. He felt the heat and liquid bath him, "Viama! What happened?"  
  
Her vision started to blur, "my orgasm. I can't see, what is happening?"  
  
"It is the start of a real bond. We are almost there, Viama." He let out a moan throwing his head back, holding her against him as tightly as he could. Another gasp and a sigh as he finally felt the jalei release from him. The pressure built and she let out a hiss as she felt a flash of pain, she felt him vibrating, his muscles clenching, as he sank deeper into her. He leaned in and the pain came again for a second before the feeling of extreme pressure started once again near her opening. His humming grew louder, it was becoming a growl and she felt his cock moving inside her again. She groaned,  her nails digging into his ass as she pulled him in tighter. He started kissing her roughly, panting and growling. Ribs and ridges moving faster, she felt a pulsing and she cried out again, her body jerking, trying to grind into his. "Viama, please, before you enter your sleep call me Suinima."

A ragged groan escaped him as she gripped his biceps, "my ... Suinima."

She heard a cry of, "Viama!" and was flooded with warmth, before her vision went completely dark.  
  
He barely had time to gently roll them over to protect her from his weight and maneuver the covers part way up before he lost consciousness, his cock locked tightly inside of her. His own body still emptying deep in her womb.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all the readers of this story. You are all amazing. It has surprised me that it has gained as many readers as it has. I appreciate all the kudos and comments you have left for me.

* * *

 

 

Shepard groaned and tried to open her eyes, she didn't know how long she had been out for. She felt Alex stir under her, her body sprawled on top of his. "Alex? What happened?"  
  
"We have bonded, it has been completed. Our bodies are now chemically tied to the other. We will want no others; we are married for life, Viama. One can not be without the other for long. Our bonding will reoccur during your season, then I shall once again knot inside of you and must remain connected." He carefully rolled her over and brushed the hair from her eyes. "It was amazing, Viama."  
  
"Season? What are you talking about? Are we still under attack? I need to get up, I need to use the bathroom." She went to move and hissed when a stabbing pain hit her in the lower abdomen.  
  
"Viama,  let me help you. I am sorry,  I became rather rough with you at the end." He moved around to the other side of the bed and helped her to her feet, guiding her carefully to the bathroom, the cramping and pain started to lessen as she moved. "I am sorry, Viama, that I was not more careful. I wasn't prepared for the feelings I had when I was deep inside of you. The warm wetness,  the softness it was not as I was told it would be. I lost control."  
  
She gave out a slight laugh, "trust me, Alex what we did wasn't rough in the same way a Human male can be. There was a bit of pain but it was nothing compared to the pleasure you brought. I never felt anything like that before." He let out a sigh of relief and gave her a small smile as she leaned against the wall.  
  
She opened her comm, "status report."  
  
"Things have calmed down, Shepard. Disarmed and captured five assailants. They are bound and are being guarded by Kaidan and Ashley, who appropriated their weapons." Garrus told her, he sounded tired.

"Commander, I must inform you. There were two compact trained assassins hired. One is dead, I have attended to his body and contacted the appropriate person to retrieve him for proper funeral rites after they file the proper documentation. The other one is alive,  he was injured but has accepted medical treatment." Thane was also sounding worn out, without having weapons he had to use hand to hand and biotics to fight the armed assassins.  
  
"Copy that; I will be out soon then we can find out how to get the authorities here. Then all of you can get some rest. Thank you, everyone." A series of acknowledgments came through.

The comm switched to a personal one, "Shepard, are you well? I am sorry about this,  had I known in advance ..." Thane's voice came to her; his sub vocals were thrumming even over the comm.

"I am fine, Thane."  
  
"Let me attend your shower, Viama. You asked me several questions earlier and I will answer them." He waited for her nod then turned the shower on hearing her sigh as the warmth soaked into her muscles. "In my species, we go through heat,  mating cycles to where our people can conceive. When the females come into season it will again trigger the bonding,  such as last night. To ensure conception."  
  
He was running her hair through his hands,  marveling at how it changed colors when it became wet, at how the water ran off her body in rivulets. She squeezed shampoo out and started to wash her hair,  he brushed her hands aside and did it himself. She sighed and leaned against him, "that feels so nice, Alex. It has been a very long time since someone did this for me."  
  
"I am here to serve you however you need, Viama. "  
  
"Alex,  something has been bothering me. You said several times that the bonding wasn't as you were told. How is it different from just having sex?"  
  
He was drying her body, "hmm... with the bonding the males release a chemical,  that is what starts the reaction for the actual bonding of our bodies,  and we knot inside of the female. During sex that is not released nor do we knot. I was not expecting the sensations I felt with you."  
  
"What do you mean?" They were dressing again, and this time she added her pistol to her hip.

"I was instructed that during mating or bonding, it is not about my pleasure. Once a female achieved her own, it would be a simple matter of letting the chemical work and then a few minutes later my body would also lose consciousness. When I was to have sex it would be for the females pleasure. But with you, it was different. Need, intensity of the pleasure I felt, I don't know how else to say it. And I ... I took pleasure out of our joining without asking. I ... I didn't think you knew about that and I ... just wanted to know what it was like."  
  
"It is different for Humans, Alex. Sex can be many different things, usually, hopefully, pleasing for both of them. Sometimes a male takes his pleasure without thought to the female. Other times the female cannot find pleasure through no fault of the males and she finds fulfillment in giving her partner pleasure. So do not worry about asking if you can. If you are enjoying it and we both find satisfaction then it is good. Now let's go see who was sent and I'll get someone out here to pick them up."  
  
"It is not that simple, Viama. You must notify the Ariki and bring charges, bring those that are still alive in front of her. They must testify as to whom and for what reason they were sent. Should all of them have perished then their bodies would have been proof."  
  
"Alright, so I just send a formal request and let her know why?" He nodded at her and she opened up her omni tool,  sent out a request to the contact that she was given and an answer was received almost immediately. Apparently they were waiting for just such a message,  although they were surprised at the survivors.

 

* * *

  
  
They loaded all of the detainees into the shuttle and went in front of an impromptu meeting. The Ariki had left a notice to be made aware immediately should it be needed.  
  
While the rest of her team were fed and was able to rest, they went in for the meeting.  All of them told the Ariki and the Matriarch from the Northern dome what had transpired. The assassin acknowledged the contract, contacted the Guild, and let them know the contract on them was no longer valid.  
  
"Spectre Shepard and Alexius Shepard,  since this wrong was against you, it is your right to determine the repercussions. For the Compacted assassin,  what is your judgment?"  
  
Shepard stepped forward slightly, "let him return to the Guild, he was performing his job that he was hired to do. As long as it is understood that from this point forward any action that he or others contracted to try and assassinate me or my Suinima will be met with overwhelming force. I had my crew be lenient this once out of respect,  but will not do so again."  
  
"So be it. Return to the Guild, assassin. Pass the word that to attack my daughter again will also bring my own forces to bear." The assassin bowed to them then left.  
  
"Now to the four males from my youngest daughter's household, what judgment will you bring to them?" The Ariki was staring at her youngest daughter,  disgust shown on her face.  
  
"These males will be taken to my home in the Northern Dome,  to become household staff. A portion of the yearly tribute that would be paid to the youngest daughter will instead be transferred to my house to provide food, clothing, and other essentials to them. Also since I will be sheltering them, part of the tribute will be paid in the form of credits to pay for upkeep or expansion to my home that is necessary to continue to do so."  
  
"So be it. Know that you four are now the property of my second daughter Spectre Shepard,  as such your loyalty lies with her and no one else. Should you forget that and try to return to your previous Mistress your punishment will be severe." All four nodded,  gave their thanks to their new Mistress then was escorted away to be taken to the Northern dome.  
  
"Finally,  daughter,  as to the reparations to be paid by my youngest daughter, who committed this act against you. What will you ask for?" The Ariki sat back on her throne, her hands tight on the arm of the chair as she waited for the outcome. Though what her daughter did was despicable,  she was still her daughter.  
  
Shepard had thought for quite a while on this. "First, she must pay for the funeral rites of the Drell that lost his life when she hired him to go against my crew, my Suinima and myself. That is her burden, his blood is on her hands. Second,  she was willing to throw away the lives of those four males that depended on her for their safety and well being. She has shown that she has no respect for the lives of those she should be protecting. I ask for her to serve another,  one with a profession that nurtures life,  a farm perhaps. For no less than five galactic standard years. She is to live and be treated as a male that is also tending the fields. No special favors, she is to be treated as THEIR equal. She may however have a small room to sleep in apart from the males. It, however, is to consist of a cot and trunk for her work clothing. Should she refuse to do her equal share of the work then appropriate punishment should be given. The males are expected to pull their weight so should she."  
  
A gasp of outrage was heard from the young female, "how dare you! This is ridiculous,  you can not honestly think that I would do this. I am the daughter of the Ariki, you are just a Human. You came here, interfered, and took what was mine. I am no one's servant nor am I a laborer, I am royalty."  
  
"I saved your life, after you disobeyed the Ariki. My crew, on my ship, put their lives on the line to answer that distress beacon. We healed your injuries,  we treated the wounds you inflicted on another being. We fed you, kept you safe, and brought you back home. Your arrogance cost four good males, ones that you were to protect, their freedom, possibly their lives. Your pettiness cost the Hanar an operative. If I wouldn't have specified that no one was to be hurt, unless absolutely necessary,  I would have brought only corpses back."  
  
Shepard glanced at the Ariki, "in all honesty, at first I was dismayed about this whole situation. Being given a male, not really understanding what was happening yesterday. But now,  after seeing just how much she disregards the well being of others,  I am glad Alex is safe with me. I doubt he would have been with his originally intended Viama."  
  
"I am glad as well, Spectre. When I first heard about what was happening with the disappearances,  I grew concerned. I did not want him tied into a situation where he would be alone for the rest of his life. Then I was outraged when I saw the vid of the rescue,  even more so when the medical scans were shown to me of the male. I was unsure at first if giving him to a Human was a wise choice, even if that Human was a Spectre. But now I am sure it was the right thing to do,  he shall be happy bonded with you I think." Eudora glanced at Alex, saw him bow and give a smile to his Mother, then one to her as well.  
  
The Ariki was quiet for a while, observing the byplay between Shepard and Alex, along with the other Matriarch, and her youngest daughter. Could she do this, could she make her own daughter labor in the hopes that she would learn to treat others better? Or would it just make matters worse. Her daughter proved herself to be spoiled,  petty, and abusive. She had no thought but for herself, she disobeyed when she wanted to if it wasn't what she wanted to hear.  
  
"That is ridiculous. She isn't a Drell,  there is no possible way they bonded." The girl still couldn't believe that her Mother had given the most prized male to a human. That Covenant was supposed to be hers. "He was promised to me. We had an agreement. That farce of a Covenant should never have taken place."  
  
Alexius sneered at the younger daughter; his brow ridges drawn down. "I hope you can forgive me for this, Viama," Alex whispered to her, then closed his eyes.  
  
_The sound of gunfire. The blue flare of biotics lit up the night sky beyond the window._

 _  
_ _Viama, in my arms, her warm body against my cool one._  
_She takes my fingers,  moves them in the rhythm to prepare her. She is so hot, and her body weeps with liquid heat._  
"Kiss me, Alex," _she groans out as she touches me,  her fingers gliding along me,  bringing me pleasure._  
  
_She takes me into her body, so smooth, so warm. Our groans fill the air, I swell, growing thick inside her, filling her._ "Oh God, more Alex."  
_Her nails scrape down my back,  her body arches into mine. Noises outside the home, the attack draws closer._  
  
_Her body arches again, and she tightens around me,  her body shaking,  her mouth opens in a soundless cry._  
"Viama,  what happened?" _I am worried I hurt her, but she tells me that sensation was her finding release. Her heat and wetness is so intense. She is gripping me so tightly,  her body pulses around me. The jalei releases and I sigh,  the bonding is working. I just have to hold out for a while longer,  bring her more pleasure._  
  
_I can not help myself, I need to know. Her eyes closing. The knot forms as I move faster,  harder. My own release grows too close.  Not yet. Want more,  have to hold. She cries out again,  her body clenching mine so tight,  pulsing._  
  
_She calls me Suinima and the ecstasy I feel as I release overwhelms me, it floods my senses, the bond is complete._  
  
He opened his eyes to see Shepard's face red as the Aliero berry. His own ribbing was flushed darker. He cleared his throat. "We are bonded. There is no mistake. I am her Suinima and will never be anyone else's."  
  
The Matriarch started to laugh, "such youth. To be that young again. Yes, my son, you are truly bonded."  
  
The Ariki was still quiet, still thinking. "Ariki, Spectre,  if I may." A voice was heard from the other side of the room. Another female Drell approached,  bowing to everyone. "The punishment that the Spectre asked for is a bit extreme,  but it is also warranted. I know you do not want to have to bring judgment on your daughter, but my sister will never learn if she is catered to. I propose a compromise. Let her serve six months in the fields. For every time she disobeys, refuses to work, or otherwise causes trouble another month is added. The punishment shall not exceed five years. It will then be by her own actions how long she will serve for, she will need to take responsibility. She will learn that her behavior has repercussions. Until now there were always excuses, always reasons why she shouldn't take the blame for the things she does. That is what has led up to this point."  
  
Shepard studied the other female. Just a bit shorter then she was, her scales were yellow with red markings. Apparently, colors were completely random.  
  
"What say you, my daughter. Does the compromise your older sister suggest suit you?"  
  
"As long as it includes the funeral for the Drell that died then yes, I will accept the compromise. This once. Should she do the same thing. A more ... severe punishment will be given. As a Spectre. Not as a sister. I am hoping I made myself clear."  
  
The Ariki's eyes opened wider and she blinked several times, it never dawned on her that Shepard could have stood there and killed her youngest daughter for attempted murder on a Spectre, until that very moment. And there would have been nothing she could have done,  as she would have been in her rights to do so.  
  
"Of course, Spectre." She stood up,  signaled to a set of guards.  
  
"As Ariki, I do hereby sentence my third daughter to six months laboring at the Southern dome, she will serve the Matriarch in the fields. Should she refuse or cause any trouble,  another galactic standard month will be added for each occurrence. Should she not perform her duties more time will be added. Traditional burial rites will be paid for from her direct accounts. She is to take nothing with her. Her attendants will remove all accouterments of her station,  she will be dressed in the same clothing as the males working the fields will be. Make it known that anyone attempting to help her in any way,  will be punished."  
  
The Ariki did her best to ignore the cries and the pleading from her daughter as she was led away. "Was there any other business at this time?" She asked,  her voice sounding oddly hollow when the second vocal box was too constricted to resonate.  
  
"Yes, it is official business. I would need the room cleared of everyone but your personal guards and the Matriarch as it concerns her dome." As they discussed what was found and what they would need to do the others had sent a message to her, Tali was heading to check the databanks with her escort. The others were going back to the home, get the area cleaned up and secured, then sleep.

 

* * *

  
  
The Ariki assigned them a set of guards to go with them as they, "explored", the dome. Their first stop was their home, it was spacious with a view of the ocean. Several bedrooms fully furnished, several bathrooms. Their master bedroom was bigger then most apartments she had ever lived in. Letting out a squeal of delight when she saw the giant tub with water jets. Alexius laughed as she turned on all the faucets and flushed the toilets. He informed her that the house staff had small rooms located in the back of the home.  
  
"Let's spend the night here, Alex. Away from the others. It will be the only chance to for a while; we need to get to know one another."  
  
"Of course, Viama. I would like that as well. It will also be a good time to go over what to expect when we leave here." He walked over to where she stood staring out at the ocean,  the almost never ending rain outside of the domes falling in increasing intensity. "Viama, it always rains on Kahje. Never have I seen the sun shine here for more than a few minutes at a time."  
  
She turned to him and touched his shoulder,  running her hand down his arm. "Since you will probably be traveling with me most of the time you will see many different worlds. I must admit,  I haven't seen one quite so ... wet before."  
  
He gave a small laugh. "That is why we Drell live in domes on this planet, the Hanar rescued us so long ago. I don't think even my own Mother has seen the sun shining brightly before. Maybe one day,  she will. Come let us finish the tour of our home,  talk to the staff and let them know of our wish to stay here this evening so they can be prepared."

 

* * *

  
  
Followed by their guards they wondered around,  looking at the area where the Tauvda household was located. It was an apartment in one of the high rise buildings, they loitered near the stores buying small trinkets and souvenirs for the others. She found a few things Joker might like and bought them,  one reminded her of one of those antique bobbleheads that used to be so popular back in the 20th Century on Earth. This one was of that Hanar "Specter",  Blasto. She purchased several crates of fresh produce and had it sent to the loading docks,  notifying the Normandy they needed to do a pick up.  
  
"Viama, according to one of the guards,  this area is rather expensive for their housing. That high rise is mainly for the upper Matriarchs and visitors. It has the best view of both the Ocean and the Royal Rakhana Gardens. Being her line of succession is extremely low,  she has no tributes and is listed as being an exporter of only produce. She shouldn't be able to afford to live here." She nodded at him,  wrapped her arm around his and walked over to a sweet shop.  
  
"Tali, check the financials for Tauvda,  see if she has investment interests off of Kahje. If not, we may have a lead and will need surveillance set up."  
  
"On it, Shepard." There was a pause of several minutes then they heard her connect back. "There is nothing but export to a business on Nos Astra. But something is very strange. I pulled up her business records,  her exports had been dropping quite a bit, her income levels were dropping as well. Then about six months ago she had a rather large deposit, and they have continued,  she's had quite a few rather large ones and several smaller,  but still substantial ones since. Outgoing purchases are rather high, a lot of personal items,  new home,  even a skycar. Yet according to shipment records her business should be failing, small cargo shipping containers sporadically sent."  
  
"I think we know how the slavers get the information,  who their contact is here. Alexius, when were the first disappearances?"

He thought as did the guards. "The first one I know about was over eight months ago. Then more started about six months ago."  
  
"Mistress,  there have been more than those. Several have not been reported outside of the Ariki. She instructed us to also help anyway we could. This information can be of help. This dome has had more than 10 missing, the last known count was close to 30 from this dome alone. The 10 that your Suinima knows of, were those working on the transports or using the passenger transits. The others have just disappeared. No recorded deaths, no change in ownership. The owners filed reports with the local authorities who informed the Ariki. The other domes,  their missing have only been from transports. No one had thought that one of our own ...",  the guards looked down, their fists clenching.  
  
"This is still speculation; we need rock solid proof. I could just charge in and ransack the place,  but I don't think the Ariki would like that very much. I need to find a way to get her out of that apartment so Tali can tap into the security feeds to get us audio and video."  
  
"What about a small luncheon for her? My Mother may be able to set something up,  then Tali' Zorah can get there." He had seen the way she grimaced and held back a smile. "Of course we would not have to attend." She quickly nodded at that.

"Sounds like the beginnings of a plan." She turned to the guards and asked if it was possible to get a description from the owners of the missing Drells. The one said it was possible; he would need time to get to the precinct, get the data and back. Unfortunately, he was under orders not to leave their side.  
  
"It's fine. I'll talk to the Matriarch and get her permission for you to go this evening. Maybe you can contact them early, so they have the information you need ready for pick up?" He nodded then used a local terminal to connect, he gave the Drell that answered his identification code and asked for the information to be put on a disk for the Spectre, and he would pick it up later that night.  
  
They stopped in a few more shops then got lunch.  The guards tried to refuse her offer saying it was inappropriate until she glared at them and told them it was a Spectre order. They sat quietly at a table nearby after that. Alexius grinned at her and bent down kissing her cheek, "always thoughtful. I am so lucky."  
  
"You keep whispering to me in that tone of voice, and you will be getting lucky later tonight. Do you have any idea what the sound of your voice does to me? Damn,  I thought Thane's was bad but it's the whole fucking male Drell population,  you men are lethal to the females auditory senses." She whispered back to him and stroked his ribbing.

"I do believe I will whisper much more to you, now that I know you like my voice as well as my body."

 

* * *

  
  
The Matriarch received their report, and the guards bowed,  gave their thanks and returned to the Ariki to relay the report to her.  The Matriarch sent out invitations to several of the lower ranked females including Tauvda,  for a small luncheon the next afternoon. Tali sent a request to the Normandy for more dextro supplies for her and Garrus along with more equipment for surveillance.  
  
The Ariki posted guards around the docks after Tali reported to her that more damage was done to the cameras. They sent the proof, and it showed the same male along with a child identified as belonging to one of the common-born females who worked for Tauvda, was shown from several angles disconnecting and in one case destroying the camera. The passenger dock had lost the camera showing the closest view to the outgoing lane with express service to Nos Astra. They were up to something, but as of yet, nothing had been reported of disappearances.

 

* * *

  
  
Their staff had gone out of their way to produce Shepard and Alexius' dinner that evening. Perfectly cooked and served to them in the small dining area,  the new staff bustled around making sure everything was perfect before leaving them to eat. "Alex,  I'm not used to being served like this in my own home. I'm used to loud, boisterous Marines laughing and joking while we wait in line for our food."  
  
"Viama,  look upon this as a break for you to relax. They are here to take care of you as you take care of everyone around you. From what you told me earlier,  when we leave Kahje things will be entirely different, someone other than me to see to your needs will not be on board. I shall, of course, take over that duty.  But for now,  here in our home,  let them do their duty and take care of us."  
  
They were sitting in the living room watching a show on the holo screen after dinner, something to the side caught her attention and she glanced over. One of the males that had arrived earlier was standing in the doorway, shifting from foot to foot and wringing his hands. "Something's wrong, I'll be right back." She got up and Alex turned to watch her walking toward the overly nervous servant.  
  
"What has happened? What is wrong?" She asked the male; he started wringing his hands harder, Alexius translated for her.  
  
"I am sorry, Mistress I should not bother you it is not my place and with what happened I have no right to even think about asking." He glanced at her and at Alex who was still watching him,  one of his hands on a metal cuff around his wrist.  
  
"Go ahead; I'm listening. I don't hold any of you responsible for what happened last night. None of you were given a choice in the matter. I'm listening,  what is it?"  
  
"I have a son, he's just a child, five years old, he was rejected for the Compact and returned. But he can learn to serve. His mother was one of the common women that served under my old mistress at one of her homes. When she passed away, I had nowhere else to go so went into the service of the former Mistress," his frills darkened and a hum of embarrassment came from him. Alex got up and came over to him.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, "Viama will not judge. You were doing as you were told, I assume?" The male nodded.  
  
"My son, he was left in the care of another when she had her guards fetch me for duty last evening."

Shepard stood up straighter and clenched her fists, "she sent you after us knowing that you would most likely be killed, and you had a child to care for?"

The male started to wring his hands again, then nodded. "Yes, Mistress. I - I have a favor to ask, even though it is not my place, I ask for leniency in the request. My son, will you help me retrieve him from there. He is all I have left of his mother."  
  
"I'll go get him right now."

Shepard turned and started to march toward the door when Alex caught up to her, "Viama,  it is not that easy."  
  
"Like hell it's not, we're talking about a child, Alex. He should be with his father,  not some stranger. Out of my way." She moved to go around him, and he stepped in her path.

"Viama, listen. We must make an appointment with the Ariki, explain the situation then let her help us to get the child. As it is right now, the child is legally the younger sisters' property."  
  
"Son of a bitch. Alright, contact her assistant and ask for an appointment at her earliest convenience for a personal matter. We'll stay focused on the task at hand in the meantime." She rubbed her forehead, "have him find out if any of the others are in a similar situation before you contact her though. If so I want to take care of any more issues at once, because as soon as we can get the evidence we need on that female, we'll be acting on it. Most likely we'll be leaving Kahje and I can't come back here for everything that may crop up."  
  
She turned back to the other male, "we'll do what we can." He bowed to her and Alex walked back over to him; they watched her stomp up the stairs to the master suite.  
  
"I did not mean to upset the Mistress."

Alex shook his head. "She is not upset at you, but at the thought of what your old Mistress did. She has a very big heart even though she is a warrior. Return to the others, find out if they need help as well, Viama will do what she can. We will not always be here, so it is important that we are told of any issues that are of primary concern while we are." The male bowed then hurried back to the servant's area.  
  
Alex turned off the vid screen and walked up the stairs,  he heard water pouring into the tub and smiled. He was wondering how long it was going to take her to want to use it when she saw it earlier. She had apparently stripped off her clothes as she made her way to the bathroom as there was a line of them pointing that way. He grinned at his Viama's antics. Removing his own clothing and placing them neatly on the bench for cleaning later before he moved to the bathroom and watched as his Viama shifted from foot to foot, muttering "hurry up already." She pushed a button and bright pink foam came shooting out into the tub to her delight as she let out a laugh and the smell of the Lace flowers, that were the most popular export from the Eastern dome, filled the air.  
  
"Viama, I am happy to see you are pleased with our home," he gave a laugh, "or at least our bathroom." She turned her head with a grin on her face and froze. She stared at him; he was varied shades of purple work of art. Their first time was rushed with neither one taking the time to appreciate the other.

But now she looked her fill, "wow, you really are gorgeous." Her eyes skimmed over his chest and arms, down his abs to past his hips and thighs to his feet. She noticed he was well muscled, not over bulky but his upper body and arms were more heavily muscled than Thane's were. She supposed it was due to the weapons he used being more physically demanding. Her hands had already figured out that, like a Turian, his sexual organs were all internal unlike a Human male's.  
  
His eyes moved over her as well,  from her messy hair piled on top of her head, down her long elegant neck. Her shoulders were more defined than what the Drell females were. Her chest had those intriguing bumps he had yet to find a name for. They had a slightly darker center and he noticed each had a nub that grew harder the longer he stared at her. Her waist curved inward,  her stomach flat and muscled. Her hips had a curve to them unlike the straightness of his own species females. She had a tiny patch of hair on that small mound of her sex. Long, slim but muscled legs finished her appearance.  
  
"Want to join me? This tub is big enough for both of us with room to spare."  
  
He looked at the tub then to her and nodded. He climbed in laying against the backrest as she joined him laying back against him. She let out a sigh and wiggled, "this is nice. Now, this I can definitely get used to." He let out a chuckle.  
  
"Viama? I have a question." He nuzzled her hair,  his arms slipping down into the water and wrapping around her waist.

"Hmm, what is it?"

She felt his hands rub her abdomen and work their way upwards. "What do you call these delightful things on your chest?" His hands skimmed over her breasts, then cupped them as if weighing them. Her nipples grew hard, and her skin pebbled as the smooth tiny scales of his fingers touched her nipples. She drew in a breath, and he froze, hoping he just didn't do something terribly wrong.

"Those are breasts; they are what mammalian females like me use to feed our children with, they produce milk after we give birth. They are also an erotic area to us when we are not raising children. The nipples are very sensitive, to both the touch of hands and also mouths."  
  
She drew in another breath and then let out a soft groan as he started to run his hands over them. "Will you show me?" He whispered to her.  
  
She closed her eyes, moved his hands then told him how to roll and lightly pinch or twist the nipples. She let out a gasp and a groan as he played with her breasts,  she caught her lower lip between her teeth. She turned her head to nuzzle and kiss his neck,  her hands stroking along his thighs. She was starting to feel hot again and could feel herself starting to throb with want.  
  
A scaled hand slid downward,  skimming over her stomach toward her center. He careful moved down over her, her indrawn breath and the way her body moved indicated he was doing something she liked. His fused fingers touched her gently while his index and small finger separated her, opened her to him. He eased his fingers inside of her, she was even hotter tonight then she had been last night, felt so much tighter around the digit as well. Twisting and thrusting against her with his one hand as the other rolled and pinched her nipple,  the delightful moans and sharp gasps she breathed on his ribbing made his own breathing quicken. When she whimpered he flicked his thumb against the little nub she showed him last night and her hips thrust forward sending his finger in deeper. "Alex, please."  
  
He gave a low growl and started to thrust his fingers faster, his thumb flicked over her until he felt her body to shake, her panting and moans getting louder in the small room and she gave a cry as her shoulders pushed backward and her hips thrust forward hard. He felt the same pulsating throb clutching at his fingers that he had felt around his cock when he was buried deep within her last night. A Human female could be brought such pleasure without needing a joining. She moved out of his arms and kneeled in the tub leaning against him and kissed him rather thoroughly.  
  
The brightly swirling colors had returned, and she put it down to something to do with Alex being a Drell,  those colors only happened when she kissed him. She stood up to hit the drain button, when she moved a bit further away he stood as well, they showered the remaining bubbles away.  
  
As he was drying her,  he tipped his head to the side studying her fingers, "Viama? What has happened to your fingers? Are you injured? Do you want someone to fetch the doctor?"  
  
She started laughing, "No, I'm fine Alex. This is what happens when we Humans linger in water. We prune. It will fix itself soon don't worry."  
  
"Humans are bizarre, Viama." He smiled at her as she laughed nodding and agreeing with him. She took his hand, and they moved to the bedroom. He got into bed and watched her pick up her clothing after she blushed at the mess she had made and saw his folded neatly on the bench.  
  
She climbed into the bed,  chewed her bottom lip, "lights 10 percent." The lights slowly dimmed until they only gave a soft glow, she turned toward him. Her hand caressed his head, fingers brushed the stiff ridges along the sides and top, then moved over the cheek frills. A low purring hum started to come from him as she continued to explore him. Hands moved over his shoulders and chest followed by light kisses.  
  
His muscles started to twitch and the purrs turned to growls as her hands and lips moved over his markings,  his abdominal muscles tightening as he felt her tongue lick across his scales, "Viama, what... what are you doing to me?" His hands gripped the sheets as he felt her hot breath on his thighs then across the protuberance between his legs. Her tongue licked a warm, wet trail along the small division and his whole body shook. "Viama,  please I can't not hold it in if you do that." His whole body was twitching, his hands flexing in the sheets. His upper body was arched away from the bed.  
  
"Then let it out. I want to see you,  touch all of you."

She watched him shake his head, "no, no Viama. That is..." his voice cut off what he was saying as he cried out when she licked him again. She saw the opening start to widen, "that's it." Her breath washed over him,  her tongue slid alongside the opening as it grew wider.  His thin,  pearly colored penis started to emerge,  growing in length. She could see the tiny bumps along the side. She looked up into his face, he had his eyes covered with one of his arms and his other hand was gripping the sheet. "Incredible. So different than a Human's."  
  
She saw his cock twitch,  then move,  it lengthened more and he let out a hiss. It seemed to be searching for something, moving along his lower abdomen. She placed her hand near the head and when it made contact with her warm palm, he let out a groan and started to swell. "What the hell?" She shifted and used her other hand to grip around his girth lightly, when he fit himself into her palm the ridges swelled and started to move. He grunted and started to pant, "Viama,  please I beg you do not do this to me."  
  
"Why not,  this is extraordinary." She gripped him tighter, and his ridges moved against her hand faster,  pushing against her palm. "No wonder you felt so good inside of me last night, Alex.  You're incredible."

She heard what sounded like a choked cry, he had his face buried in his hands, "this is wrong, Viama... why are you doing this? What did I do wrong?" He let out a sob as a thick creamy substance poured from his cock. Coating her hand and dripped to his abdomen.  
  
"Wrong? Alex, you did nothing wrong,  I don't understand,  I thought I was bringing you pleasure." His cock slowly withdrew and the seam closed. She grabbed a handful of tissues from the box beside the bed as he rolled away from her,  moving as far from her as he could get. "Talk to me Alex, what's wrong? I don't understand."  
  
"Viama, whatever I did I am sorry. I don't understand what happened between the bathroom and the bed,  what did I do to deserve that punishment?"  
  
_Punishment?_ "Alex, Alex listen to me. Tell me why you think that was a punishment."  
  
"Viama, males are only humiliated like the lowest of the whores if they did something terribly wrong." His voice was flat, cracking from the emotions that he was feeling.  
  
She wrapped her arms around him, "oh God, I am so sorry. I didn't know. Humans, we give our males pleasure that way,  it is like what you did for me in the bathtub. What we did here was a female's way of reciprocating it. Not used as a punishment. I would never punish you. We have so much to learn about each other.  I never meant to hurt you, I am so very, very sorry." She kissed his shoulder and back. "I beg your forgiveness, I honestly didn't know,  I should have listened to you."  
  
She started stroking the back of his head and kissing him, "remember earlier today, I told you that there are times when a female finds fulfillment in bringing her male pleasure? Hmm,  do you remember that? This was what I meant. Never a punishment, never." She held him tighter, "I swear to you all I wanted was to make you feel as good as what you did me earlier, that was all." She felt his body still shaking, felt his silent cries.  
  
"Suinima,  please, I did not know." She placed her forehead on the back of his head and held him. He slowly grew quieter and his breathing had changed. She gently withdrew her arms from him and when he didn't stir she eased out of bed,  dressed and went downstairs. She made a cup of tea as quietly as she could so as not to wake the servants then slipped out onto the balcony.  
  
_'Not even married for two days and I fuck it up. Way to go Marigold. Bet your good ole' dad would love to have seen this. "You're just like your Mom was, nothing but a dumb woman that screws everything up as soon as you lay your damn hands on it ... never amount to anything ... no one other then another dumb fuck would want more to do with you than just a fast screw in an alley." Guess he was right.'_  
  
"Joker,  you there?" She said,  her voice soft so she wouldn't wake anyone.  
  
"Where else would I be Commander? Someone's got to stay on board and look after the ship."  
  
"Has there been any news or suspicious activity in Kahje airspace?"  
  
"There was a ship that came around earlier, the Ensign tagged it,  noticed it hung around the airspace more than it should have considering it wasn't landing, then left when we moved into a defensive position as one of the transports went out. Something is definitely brewing,  you'll need to do whatever it is you're up to there fast. I'm thinking the "boss" is getting impatient waiting for a way to get one of those transports."  
  
"Should know something in another day or two. Any news from the Citadel?"  
  
"Nothing new there. I did hear some strange rumor though... about a certain starship Commander that had gotten herself roped into marriage with an alien so she wouldn't cause some type of interspecies galactic shattering incident ... or something along those lines."  
  
"Yeah... something like that, Joker." Her voice had changed from that of the Commander to that of just a female.  
  
"What's going on Mari?" Joker's voice lost the smirking quality to it becoming soft and concerned.  
  
"Just like my Dad always said, everything I touch goes to shit, Jeff."  
  
"Uncle Jason was a bastard, Mari. I don't know why you even bother remembering anything that asshole ever said to you. When Mom found out that Aunt Jasmine died when he left you guys to fend for yourselves on Mindoir she was pissed. Then wanted to come back after you became poster girl for the Alliance and then a Spectre,  telling everyone he was your Father and how he was sorry work took him away from family so much ... blah blah blah ... lying shithead."  
  
"All it took me to mess this up was two days, two lousy days. I hurt him Jeff, in my ignorance I hurt him bad. The only time I ever do anything right is when I have a gun in my hand. Outside of fighting I'm a galaxy class screw up,  just like he said. I couldn't even go to a damn lunch without almost choking on a weird fish ball thing and getting cake smeared on me. I get handed this incredible, gorgeous guy, who would do nothing to hurt me, and what do I fucking do... I hurt him so bad emotionally just from trying to treat him as if he's a Human,  not take into account the differences in our cultures, that I bring him to tears. I don't know what to do, Jeff." Her voice cracked and she laid her head on her drawn up knees.  
  
"Mari,  this crap isn't your fault. This shit was thrown at you with no warning,  no one has bothered to even tell you anything about their culture until some type of shit starts to hit the fan and you have to deal with it as best you can. I tried looking them up and there is almost nothing on their species. How the hell were you to know any of this stuff? Damn it, they didn't even have the decency to let you get to know the guy first before you had to ...." She heard him hit the arm of his chair and hiss out in pain.  
  
"Jeff,  are you alright? Why did you do that?" Shepard sat up straighter, "go see Dr. Chakwas. That's an order."  
  
"Shit, I think I broke my wrist as well as most of my hand." He was hissing through his teeth as she heard him getting up from his chair. "I'll have the Ensign keep an eye on the traffic,  if it looks like trouble we'll comm you," Joker said to her.  She heard his muttered, ow,  shit shit shit as he made his way to the stairs down to the crew deck.  
  
"Alright, Shepard out." She stood up and leaned on the balcony railing looking out over the ocean.  
  
"Viama, is what he said true? No one has told you anything about Drell customs or culture?" Alexius' voice came from behind her, and she jumped.  
  
"Alexius...you startled me."  
  
"Viama?"  
  
"I- there is nothing on the extranet but bare minimum, how your species was originally from Rakhana and the Hanar brought you here. Thane wouldn't tell me until it was necessary and only what was necessary. Everything I know came after something happened and I had no idea what was going on at the time. All I know is I have to do what is required to not cause an incident and to find out where the slavers are and stop them."  
  
He looked at her then down at the balcony floor, rubbing his head. "You did not know what the Covenant was?"

She shook her head, "no.  Thane just told me what to say and when to say it.  I had no idea what that document even said as my translator couldn't understand most of the words,  hell I still don't know what it says other than I have a home and am second daughter. It was all just a garbled mess of text. I can't cause problems, Spectre or not,  I have to stay in the Ariki's good graces to have access to the information and docks here. So I needed to do whatever was necessary. The Council is no help, you know this, but if I should cause an incident, I will probably lose what little help I can get from there."  
  
"You knew nothing ... but what about last night?"  
  
"What about it?" She turned back toward the ocean."Thane told me that until we had sex and bonded, we were in danger. I found that out as I was sitting in the dining room, after finding out that I married you." She shrugged. "I did what I had to do. We had sex, I enjoyed it, I think you did as well considering the memory you told the Ariki. Did I know what to expect with you?  No. Until last night I didn't even know you had internal sex organs, I had barely caught a glimpse of you before ...." Her voice trailed off as she gripped the railing, "we do what we have to."  
  
She cocked her hip and crossed her arms, "I told myself that it was a good thing, a male that wouldn't use me then turn his back on me. I would do whatever it took to make him happy. Instead, well... I just did what comes naturally to me,  fuck it up." She turned toward him, "it's getting late and I have work to do tomorrow. Good night, Alexius. I'll sleep in one of the other rooms,  it will cause less problems that way."


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

 

 Shepard had already dressed and left the next morning before even the servants woke up. She left a datapad on the table explaining she needed to do surveillance work. He was to use the comms to let her know when the meeting with the Ariki was to see about getting the child back to his father.  
  
She was sitting with Kaidan at the small eatery across from Tauvda's apartment building when he kicked her foot and nodded. She glanced in the direction he indicated and saw a female Drell followed by the male that had disconnected the cameras. They seemed to be in a hurry and was practically running toward the Royal Gardens.  
  
"Garrus,  heads up, 2 o'clock. Targets are heading your way into the Gardens; a fire lit under their asses, something's up." Shepard told him as they got up and followed at a distance.  
  
Garrus located them staying in his sniper perch, using his visor to zoom in and record the meeting. Tauvda talked with a Human female, who was looking rather angrily at the Drell, "you were given credits to deliver a shipment of workers in advance. You're late; those last Drell didn't last long in the mine. The boss also wants the intel on the ones to fill the orders. You better get that scaly ass of yours on the ball and get him those Drell."  
  
"There is a Spectre here; she's suspicious. Had cameras up in the docks and has been snooping around. On top of it, the stupid Ariki made the bitch her daughter, also given her the most sought after male. You get rid of the Spectre and the ones with her, I'll get you as many workers as you want. Bring me that male, and I'll give you access to this dome to take who you want from here, no questions asked. I have enough people in the Matriarch's household that are loyal to me to be able to get to her and take her out, now that Alexius isn't there to help guard her. In the ensuing chaos, you can come in and take them."  
  
"You better not be fucking around. Or it will be you that we'll take along with your household. There is a whorehouse in Omega that is looking to get their hands on a female Drell, by the time their clients get done with you,  you'll wish you kept your end of the bargain. Get me the location of this Spectre; I'll send in enough people to take care of her." Garrus watched as the exchange of intel took place, time, and location of the assigned house in the Northern Dome. The Human left and the female Drell hurried away. Garrus sent the warning in time for Kaidan and Shepard to duck behind cover. After they had hurried past, they met up with Garrus who played back the recording.  
  
"This is not good, we have to get the Matriarch under protection we can trust." Shepard headed for the exit from the gardens the others right behind her. "Alexius, can you hear me?"  
  
"Yes, Viama. I am waiting to hear about the time of the meeting." His voice sounded sad to her,  the usual subvocal flat.  
  
"We have an emergency, listen carefully, we are on the way back to the house. I need for you to speak to the Matriarch, with no one else there. Alexius, she's in danger, and you are to trust no one that is in that household. Get her to the house; we will take her under guard to the Ariki. Do not leave her side and go armed." Shepard sped up, the others keeping pace with her effortlessly.  
  
"Shepard, we are going to need weapons," Garrus told her, his visor was still scanning to make sure no surprises were waiting for them.  
  
"Agreed." She opened her omni tool and sent an urgent message to the Ariki's contact. Shepard stated she had intel of a dire nature and needed an immediate connection. They had just made it to Shepard's house when her omni tool rang back.  
  
"Daughter,  what is so urgent?"  
  
Shepard outlined everything after making sure the line was secure, and the Ariki was alone, then she patched Garrus' visor recording in and played it. "We need weapons and our armor. We can not protect the Matriarch and the others without them. Alexius is getting her to the house now then we will bring her to you."  
  
"Do what you need to do, Daughter, I will have guards waiting here for you as well. May Arashu protect you all."  
  
She opened the comm channel to her crew and the Normandy. "Attention all crew of the Normandy and ground team..." The ground team met with the shuttle, once on board the Normandy, they geared up. Ashley packed Shepard's armor and a variety of weapons for her, along with the last of the working translation bracelets they had. They bypassed the dock on re-entry in case Tauvda had a watcher there, instead hovered in the back of the home. Everyone disembarked, and the shuttle returned to the Normandy.  
  
"Viama, we are here," Alexius announced as he came through the door, the Matriarch drew in a breath at the heavily armored and armed people gathered in the home. The servants were scrambling to make room for everyone and preparing the home in case they needed to leave.  
  
"I am sorry about this Matriarch, but it is for your own protection. Alexius you weren't followed nor let anyone know where you were going?"  
  
"No, Viama. I told her very little; we took our time inside so you would have a chance to get ready. Then I led her to the gardens and out of the servant entrance." She nodded and told Garrus to play the recording. Alexius caught his mother as she started to faint upon hearing the news. "Alexius, you will go with Tali, Ramirez, and Andrews to take the Matriarch to the Ariki, she's waiting for you."  
  
"Viama?" He watched her pick up a shotgun and check it before putting it in the holster.

"This is what I'm good at Alexius. Don't question my orders when it comes to battles." She walked away from them and went to where Garrus was inspecting the area outside of the window. That was the weakest spot, and the most likely would be their entry point. Alexius looked at Shepard then down at the floor,  his mother touched his shoulder and gave him a questioning look. He only blinked as a low, sad trill escaped him.  
  
"Alright, people we have several hours yet. Sync up. Tali you need to get your group moving. Keep the Matriarch and Alexius surrounded at all times. Do not use the public system. The Ariki has set up contact points between the two domes. Use those and only those. When you get to the Palace, and she is safe, relay it. Otherwise, comms are silent."

* * *

  
  
"Shepard, we just got to the Palace,  the Matriarch is under heavy guard as is the Ariki. I also passed on the message you sent me. She acknowledges it and will do as you ask. The other Matriarchs that received invitations for the luncheon just arrived, including Tauvda."  
  
"Thanks, Tali. Slip out and get those feeds tapped as soon as you can. Then get back there." Shepard turned to the rest of the group. "When we have two hours left,  I want everyone into position. Normally, I would say don't hurt them. But this time I need only a few left alive to question them, it is time to send a message. After we take out this group, the Ariki will release a statement,  announcing my death. The Matriarch will be seen grieving with her son at their home. That should be all that is needed to trigger the attempt on her life. The ground crew will escort the Matriarch home and remain there once we know it worked. We'll need to be there and in the position to take out the ones that are traitors to her. The Normandy is in the position to disable any ships that try to leave without proper clearance; they will board and arrest any person on board under authorization of Khajean law,  given to them by the Ariki and Hanar Illuminated Primacy. Hopefully, this will stop the attacks on the Drell, and we can get valuable intel to rescue survivors and prevent them from taking more of them, the Humans and Asari as well. At least from this group."

* * *

  
  
Everyone was in position, the sensor they had set up 200 yards from the window activated alerting everyone there was someone there. The heat sensors synced to their HUD's added tiny red dots to their overlay maps. 15 dots heading in from the ocean side,  five each on the North and East side. The South side where the main door was didn't register any for the moment. Those guards would remain in place and not engage the others as a precaution.  
  
"Only 25? What the hell Shepard? I thought they were going to send enough to take out a Spectre?" Garrus muttered.  
  
She snorted, "guess they don't know about this Spectre and her team yet. Keep alert; they are almost at the engage point." The crackle of the comms went silent everyone was ready.  
  
As soon as the last blip of red light past Thane's sniper point in the large tree, he sent out the code. Then all hell broke loose. Biotics, drones, rifle shots all exploded on the hapless mercs that thought they were sneaking up on an unsuspecting group. The ones at the sides veered off hoping to flank the defenders; they got no more than 20 yards before being gunned down. The people guarding the front notified them of retreating blips and Thane who was the closest at that point along with one of the Marines from the Normandy, cut through the vegetation and angled up towards where they should intercept the ones retreating.  
  
"The Commander is down; those bastards took down Spectre Shepard, don't let those sons-a-bitches get away," Ashley screamed into her comm, on cue the rest of the group shouted their disbelief and outrage.  
  
The Marine used concussive rounds to knock out several of the mercs while Thane warped and dispatched the others. One of the survivor's comms was still active, and they heard the chatter from whoever their leader was, "damn it,  answer me." The Marine proceeded to yell at the mercenary,  at how the bastards that killed the Spectre was going to pay, and how they were going to start with him,  then shot a blank into the ground next to the unconscious merc. Both Thane and the Marine heard the gasp and knew the message had been received. Everything was going as planned. They then disabled the comms from the mercs. The omni tools from the survivors were removed for Tali to search through.  
  
It had been a short and bloody battle; she lost two of her Marines before the rest of the enemy had been brought down. The final count was 30 mercs,  three of which were alive,  unconscious and trussed up like Thanksgiving turkeys,  the rest laid out in her backyard. Garrus and Thane went from merc to merc gathering their omni tool data and wrapping them up in the body bags they had brought down from the Normandy. Nothing like being prepared.  
  
Shepard was inside the house. From this point, no one could see her. She removed her armor and passed it to Ashley who, carefully and respectfully, dressed the dead female Marine in it. The helmet occluded any visual inspection of the face. Shepard in turn put on a set of Alliance issued standard armor. She took up position in the fallen Marine's place. Once they were sure they had every possible scrap of data, she nodded to Kaidan who contacted Tali with the prearranged scripting. He announced that the enemies were down,  but they had suffered a loss as well,  one Marine and the Commander.

* * *

  
  
Tali felt awful for telling them that Shepard was dead, but it had to be her. The face mask would hide any outward signs of the lie; she had only to watch her body language. Her voice cracked when she mentioned Shepard's name, the wail from the male Drell echoed in the room. It was all the Ariki, and she could do not to tell him it was a lie. But their pain had to look genuine.  
  
Tali's omni tool chimed, and she activated it. Kaidan's voice came on. "After the Ariki makes her announcement several of the crew will come and escort you back to the Matriarch's home, we can only stay for a short period as we must make haste to Earth to see to their funerals."  
  
"No, no Viama stays here." Alexius practically yelled to the holographic image of Kaidan,  his voice echoing grief and pain. The growls of anger at the thought of her being gone and taken from him so completely was loud to the other Drell. 

"It is the Human's custom, Alexius. We will need to return them quickly."  
  
Only Tali noticed the male Drell that had been standing in the corner watching the byplay unfold casually slip out of the door. She quickly set up a private channel letting them know the bait worked. The Ariki's omni tool gave a vibration letting her know as well. The Ariki moved to her throne and sat down arranging herself on it as her assistant moved the camera into place. Another one activated in front of the assistant who contacted local media.  
  
The ground crew watched the holo screen as the Ariki appeared, "it is with heartfelt grief and sorrow that I must make this announcement. This evening my second daughter was attacked in her home while her Suinima was attending to his Matriarch here at my home. It is with the greatest sadness that I announce the attack claimed the lives of one of her guards and also her own." The Ariki dabbed at her eyes with a silk handkerchief, poking herself in the eye and causing tears to fall. "The Matriarch of the Northern Dome will be in seclusion at her home this evening along with my daughter's Suinima. We ask that you do not contact them but let them grieve in peace until they are ready." The camera panned to where Alexius was holding his mother, and they were both crying.  
  
"Shit, I hope the hell they can forgive us for this deception," Shepard said to the group around her.

"It is necessary, Commander. Their subvocal must echo their grief for the other Drell to hear." Thane's voice reassured her somewhat. Everyone put on their helmets and went out to where the shuttles had just returned from the Normandy. The bodies of the mercs would be jettisoned into the nearest star after they left Kahje airspace. They made a great show of loading the bodies of the Alliance onto the one shuttle while the ground crew plus the one Commander in a basic issue Marine armor loaded into the other.

* * *

  
  
When they arrived back at the Matriarch's home they disembarked,  the ground crew surrounding them as they entered the home. Tali's program quickly mapped the entire home,  every entrance,  every window. There were several possible points that they could use to sneak back into the building. The crew made a show of checking to make sure everything was "locked," and there were no intruders. They placed sensors in the drapes, on various pieces of furniture, and in potted plants along the way. Then they gave their condolences, letting them know that it was likely a different Spectre would take over once they could give their full report. 

Within 10 minutes of the shuttle taking off, the crew had all jumped back out of the shuttle and made their way back into the building via the roof in some cases, the garden door in others. Shepard slipped through the Matriarch's bedroom window and hid in a small alcove with a full view of the room. Thane would do the same in Alexius'. Each one checked in on a private line and settled in to wait for the attack.

  
The Matriarch was startled, to say the least when she spotted the Alliance soldier in the shadowy corner. The person signaled for quiet, and she gave the slightest of nods in understanding. In the other wing, Thane did the same, signaling for Alexius to remain in his gear with weapons on. Thane watched as tears started to fall from the other's eyes,  his subvocal changing from anger to sadness and despair then back to anger again.  
  
"What are you thinking, Alexius?" Thane asked quietly; he was fighting with his natural inclination of remaining completely silent,  part of the shadows around him.

"Last night, Viama told me she - she didn't know anything about us. She knew nothing about our ways, our customs. We had a misunderstanding. Our bonding was new. She told me you didn't even explain the Covenant just told her what to say. Now- now there is no way even to repair it. I have lost my Viama before even getting to know her."  
  
"Alexius, if she had known she would have declined. Humans are different. She told me after we spoke that they do not have arranged marriages. Except for certain local cultures. If she had refused the son of a Matriarch, it would have political ramifications. Not to mention stalled the investigation. I withheld the information for as much her sake as the benefit of the Drell people." Thane watched as the younger male sat with his head in his hands, the sadness and turmoil radiated from him. Thane wanted to tell him she was alive but knew it would have to wait, the male would never be able to stay silent if he knew.  
  
Several hours later they saw the first of the dots on the HUD light up. Then several more making their way toward both ends of the wings of the home. Shepard drew her weapon, and the Matriarch bolted upright in the bed. Shepard pointed at the small closet; the Matriarch moved as quickly as she could to it, closing the door softly behind her. Shepard arranged the pillows and bed curtains to resemble someone still in the bed, picked her pistol back up and hid in the corner just in time for the intruders to unlock the door.  
  
In the meantime, Thane signaled to Alexius who moved to one of the other corners, drew his weapons but didn't yet activate them. The glow of the lasers would give him away immediately. He nodded to Thane when he indicated five combatants were coming their way. Not many at all, but then again they weren't expecting him to be awake and armed with a trained assassin at his side either.  
  
When the fifth person entered the room, they watched as all of them made their way to the bed. One had what looked like a gag, another some sort of bonds; they had just pulled aside the curtain to see the bed empty when the flare of the blue-white lasers came from the opposite side of the room. Thane's biotics took out one at the same time Alexius threw his Lumoi, the brilliant blue-white weapons leaving light trails in the darkened room as they cut precise and lightning quick lines toward the intruders, cutting through the rest of them and returning before the last body fell to the floor.  
  
"It seems as if you wouldn't have needed my assistance at all, Alexius." The other Drell looked toward Thane and blinked.

"I would have been unaware of their approach Sere Krios," Thane answered him with a hum, and as he checked his HUD,  lights were blinking off all along both wings of the home. "Come, let us head to the Matriarch's wing. The way is clear for now."

* * *

  
  
Shepard stayed still and waited as the last of the intruders passed through the doorway. The odds were not precisely in her favor. Very slowly she withdrew one of the new flashbang grenades she had picked up from the Spectre Requisitions office and lobbed it at the intruders. The flash of blinding white light made them yell out and become disoriented long enough for Shepard to shoot two of them, lunge from her hiding spot, snapping another's neck and punching the last one knocking him down. She quickly manacled the one left alive, placing a gag over his mouth so he couldn't activate any radio or comm he may have on him.  
  
She had just stood up after checking the stats on the others when the rest of the team came in the room. Alexius was looking around, and she pointed to the closet. "Mother? It is safe." 

Shepard moved to out in front of the doorway as if to guard it and began whispering questions to Kaidan, who proceeded to use them to interrogate the remaining Drell male. He answered the questions after seeing the heavily armed group surrounding him.  Once they had as much information as they could get from the merc, Shepard had Kaidan, Ramirez, and Tali head back to the Normandy.  
  
The local law and guards from the Ariki arrived shortly after, taking the statements and removing the bodies. The guards posted at the docks kept her from leaving Kahje at the terminal. She was refusing to answer any questions and denying everything. That was until they started the recording of the meeting she had with the Human merc. Then she told them everything she could. She contacted the leader of the merc band,  told them everything was taken care of,  the Matriarch was out of the way, and they could come in to take the ones they wanted.  
  
The Normandy was waiting for the freighter to get within range then disabled their communications. A disruptor torpedo took out their shields. Joker gave the other ship one chance to surrender or be destroyed. They surrendered. The Marines led by Kaidan and Ramirez cleared the freighter, taking them all prisoners and locking them down. Tali hacked the databases, retrieving what intel she could. The Hanar sent their operatives to take the prisoners from them and turn them over to the Council. They were all completely exhausted by the time the artificial lights started to brighten in the dome.  
  
"Get some sleep.  While Tali goes over the data, Garrus and Ashley go to the docks remove the equipment, do the same with Tauvda's security feeds and grab the stuff from here. Once you get all of it together, get back to the ship. We'll be leaving as soon as Tali lets us know of good places to start. Hopefully, we can make it there to get some of these people back. I have a bit of business to take care of then I'll be on the Normandy first thing in the morning."

* * *

  
  
She went outside of the Matriarch's house and spoke to the Ariki, asking for her help to retrieve the child. The Ariki told her she would have the child ready for her in an hour all she would need to do was fetch him. "Thane,  I know you're exhausted, but there is a child at the Ariki's that needs someone to pick him up and bring him to my home in the Northern dome,  his father is there. Will you do this for me,  also assure them that I am well?"  
  
"Of course, Shepard. Alexius is in need of you, I do not know what happened, but he is terribly distraught."  
  
"I'll - I'll explain to him, see if I can get him to understand. Thank you, Thane." Shepard cut the comm and took a deep breath of the recycled dome air, put her helmet back on, then re-entered the Matriarch's household in search of both of them. She had explaining to do.  
  
She heard them in the main chamber, along with what seemed to be all of her remaining servants. The Matriarch was furious; she had apparently separated them into groupings,  her oldest staff remained to the side looking on,  the newer ones standing in front of her. Some were crying; some were looking scared. She started walking closer to them, seeing Alexius standing behind and slightly to the side,  his weapons not active but ready none the less.  
  
The Matriarch had seen the Alliance soldier approaching and stood up, "we thank you for all you have done for us. Please accept my condolences for your lost comrade and your Commander." Alexius let out a mournful hum, his body shaking.  
  
The soldier bowed to them. Then sneezed.  
  
Alexius jerked, his eyes fastening immediately onto the female in front of them. "Viama?" He started to go around the Matriarch as they watched the soldier undo the fastenings of her helmet, slowly and carefully lifting it off. She didn't even get it completely off before Alexius had her in his arms. "Viama." His subvocal were humming, and his body started vibrating.  
  
The helmet dropped to the floor, and she stroked his back a few times,  feeling the tears soaking her neck. "I'm alright." She looked up at the Matriarch who had tears of joy on her own face. "I am sorry to cause you pain. But the deception was necessary to draw out the ones that were working for Tauvda. If either of you knew the truth, your subvocal would have given it away to those in this household. It was difficult enough for the Ariki to hold her own so not to tip you or the spy that Tauvda had left after the luncheon off."  
  
"I will be leaving in the morning, chasing after the leads to try and get your people back. I'm not sure when I will be back." She wanted to disentangle herself from Alexius without hurting him.  
  
"Shepard,  the child is safe with his father, and they send their thanks.  I have been offered a place to rest here for the night, with your permission." Thane's voice came across her comm line; she could hear the tiredness in his voice.

"Of course, Thane. I will be there shortly. Get some food and rest; we leave tomorrow." She looked to the Matriarch, "was there anything you need? Anything that I can help you deal with before I go to the house and get a few hours of sleep?"  
  
"No, child. You have done so much for me and my household already. Stay safe and watch over each other." She told Shepard, not noticing how the Commander flinched, Alexius, however, had felt her body give that slight jerk and lifted his head trying to look into her eyes. She avoided looking at him,  only stepped out of his arms, bent to pick up her helmet then gave a bow before turning to leave the hall.  
  
"Alexius? What has happened?" His mother asked him quietly as he watched Shepard walk toward the doorway.

"A misunderstanding Mother. They never told her about any of this,  about our marriage, what it meant. About our ways. I - I did not know and became upset at something she did, she did not know what she had done was, was not-- we are so different. She-she said she was afraid of hurting me again, but... Neither of us knows anything about the other." He fisted his hands tighter as Shepard turned the corner and walked out of sight, "she didn't even know what the Covenant said, was just told the words to say. She couldn't say no because of the political implications. She didn't ... doesn't..."  
  
"Go after her,  you will need to be the one to explain to her about our ways. Ask her about hers and both of you try to learn,  try to come to a middle ground that makes you both happy. Now hurry before she leaves the home, take care my son. May the Goddess bless you and keep you both safe. May Amonkira aid you in the hunt to find our people."  
  
He bowed to her, bringing her hand up to kiss the back of it before turning and running to catch up to his wife before she was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References about Joker's mother. Only known "fact" I can find about his mother was she worked on Arcturus station as a contractor. References made in conversation during ME3 relate only to his Father and younger sister. Nothing had been mentioned about his mother, so I made it up as a reason for Joker not liking Omega. As if it needed another reason.

* * *

  

"Viama,  wait please," Alexius said right as Shepard was getting into the small shuttle. She glanced back, then got in and sat down. Alexius got in, and the shuttle left for their own home.  
  
"Viama, why do you not speak with me? I am overjoyed you are alive." His eyes were blinking at her as he was looking at her from across the compartment.  
  
"You don't need to pretend, Alexius. No one can hear you. The shuttle is piloted by a VI right now. You don't need to worry,  I'll still do everything I can to find your people." She rubbed at her eyes, she was so tired. Not having slept the night before,  then everything that went down that day,  she was exhausted. She didn't feel like dealing with this right now. All she wanted was a shower and to go to sleep, there was so much to do in the morning before they left,  and she was starting to feel hot again.  
  
"Pretend? I am not pretending anything, Viama. When I thought you died,  with the misunderstanding between us,  it broke my heart. We are bound together. Mother... she said to talk to each other. To learn from each other. Will you not give us a chance? Or are we now doomed to be together yet alone? There will never be another for either of us, Viama."  
  
"I'm tired, Alexius. Too tired to deal with this tonight. I'm going to shower then go to sleep." Shepard almost stumbled as she exited the shuttle, her feet dragging as she walked toward the home. Alexius followed a short distance behind her. He was hoping his Viama would be willing to talk to him when she wasn't so tired. He wasn't pretending, he was happy and relieved that she was alive. Thinking that she was dead had shattered his heart,  it may only have been caused by the bond at this point, but he was sure given enough time they could come to have a true bond, a deeper one than the chemical one they had.  
  
She trudged into their bathroom stripping the armor from her body, then the underarmor, finally her tank top and panties. Entering the shower she let the water wash over her, relieving some of the pain and tiredness from her body. As she washed her hair she thought about what he had said,  to talk and come to some sort of middle ground didn't seem like such a bad idea. But she didn't know anything about him,  how was she to know what to ask for and what not to. Her touching him had proven to her that even the basic things for her people was something horrendous to his. She just didn't know how this was going to work.  
  
When Shepard left the bathroom, dragging the armor behind her,  she saw Alexius already in bed, apparently waiting for her. She dumped the armor in a pile next to the door, then walked over to get her pillow. There was still one spare bedroom,  she only hoped they had made up the bed for her. She reached for the pillow and he reached out to touch her hand. "Please Viama, do not go. You are my wife, do not sleep apart from me." His liquid dark eyes looked at her, the purple iris glittering like wet jewels. "We can never learn about each other if we are not together."  
  
"I just ... I don't know if this is going to work, Alexius." She slid into the bed, staying on the edge with her back to him. Knowing that again she wouldn't be sleeping. She made a mental note to talk to Doctor Chakwas,  at this rate she was going to need something to keep her mental faculties sharp on little to no sleep. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Viama, why do you no longer call me Alex?" The question was softly spoken and held a wealth of pain.

"It is better if I distance myself from you. I understand there will be times when you will need to have sex with me. But it will be easier if I don't get close, I'm less likely to do something stupid again. Good night."  
  
She tried not to be affected by the choked cry that came from him. After a while he must have fallen asleep,  the change in his breathing was apparent. She carefully got up from the bed and made her way to the other bedroom. Falling asleep soon after.  
  
She startled awake when she heard someone enter the room. "Thane, what's wrong?" She got up, checking the time on her omni tool.

"Nothing is wrong, Shepard. What are you doing in here?"  
  
"I was asleep until you woke me up." She scratched the back of her neck and yawned before grabbing her pillow. Since she was awake, she might as well get cleaned up and see if Tali had the data sorted. She noticed Alexius sitting out in the living room as she passed. He didn't look at her just continued to stare at the wall or whatever he was looking at. 

Thane followed her into the bedroom, "Commander, what is going on? Why are you treating your husband so poorly?"  
   
"Poorly? I am making sure I stay away from him so I don't hurt him again, Thane. You have no idea,  none, about how it feels to know nothing about your spouse, to be told nothing about them. Hell, not even being told that the datapad contains a marriage agreement,  just 'here sign it, say this, and don't ask questions'. Having to stumble around, not even knowing their basic ways of doing things. You have no idea what it is like, not knowing what you can or can't do with them,  what is allowed and what isn't. To be expected to know these things but be completely in the dark because not a single damned person, including your spouse, bothers to tell you even the simplest thing until it is too late." Shepard threw her pillow at the bed, grabbed the under-armor and the hard suit she wore the day before, dragging it back into the bathroom to change before Thane could say anything to her.  
  
Before they left Shepard made sure the staff had everything they needed, that the household account had plenty of funds for their needs and they had a means to contact her.  She gave a translator bracelet to the head of her staff and got it working, then told him that some of the credits were to be put aside to have the staff outfitted with permanent translators.  
  
"Do both of you have your stuff?  We won't be back for a bit." When Thane and Alexius both answered in the affirmative, the two Drell followed her onto the shuttle, and she set the VI to return to the Normandy.

* * *

  
  
The shuttle docked,  Thane headed toward the elevator after placing his gear into the locker. Shepard assigned one of the open lockers to Alexius, explained that was where extra armors could be stored as well as weapons. She explained the procedure for when he had to wear a heavy set, that nothing could be brought up to the rest of the ship without being cleared by decon. He started to remove the bracelets when he noticed her removing the armor and putting it in the machine. When she began to remove her underarmor he stopped her. "Why are you removing all of your clothing? There are other males here." He had seen Garrus come over, place a weapon on Chief Williams's workbench. Shepard was in full view of both the Turian and another Human male further down.

"Remember, no gear can be taken above before it has been decontaminated. All of us remove our armors and underarmors placing them in this machine. There is nothing sexual, and if you watch carefully, you can see that no one cares if I am in very little clothing, hell they barely pay any attention. I could stand here bare ass naked, dance around singing,"Raindrops keep falling on my head," and it would do no more than having them give me a cursory glance and a shake of their heads.  
  
He watched the others, and it was as she had explained, they didn't pay much attention to her. He was relieved however when she put on garments over her under things. "What about my suit?"

She laughed, "as Drell wear nothing under their suits the decon mist that we pass through to clean the outside and seals works. It is for the cleaning of the hard suits and garments under them that we need to do this. Since your leathers are not made of the same hard substance, the material absorbs the decon mist into it."  
  
She gave him a brief tour, showed him engineering and introduced him to Adams. Tali apologized to him again for having to lie. Then came the requisitions person,  he explained his job,  showed him how to order anything on the list as long as there were credits on his account. Alexius didn't understand that part as he never handled credits before. Shepard told him to come back down later the officer could explain in more detail then. "Has my package arrived yet?" Shepard checked her omni tool,  transferring a few thousand credits into each of the ground crews accounts and set up Alexius with one of his own.  
  
"Yes, Commander. It took longer than necessary for them to bring it here." He handed her a small box with the Spectre symbol on it.

"Wonderful, they probably didn't want to pay for the delivery charges so did it the cheap way,  yay for the Council. Thank you."  
  
"Garrus and Tali, Alexius' omni tool arrived if you want to come take a look." She turned toward him, "this is for you. Garrus and Tali are both technical experts with these things, they can tell you more about it and help you to get programs and apps best suited for you." She barely handed him the package before the stomping of armored Turian feet came charging across the bay.  
  
"Hurry, let me see it before Tali figures out the passcode to the doors from Engineering," Garrus said as he came running up to them his hands held out. Alexius looked at him, still clutching the box to his body.

"Of... of course, Officer Vakarian." He slowly handed over the box.

Garrus looked at him, "you can just call me Garrus."

He opened the box and had just run a talon across the top of the sealed package inside when they heard Tali yelling from the hall leading to the Engineering door, "Garrus,  you bosh'tet,  get your talons off that tool and let me see it." He immediately raised it above his head,  well above Tali's reach.

"I'm not done looking at it yet. When I get done you can look at it then; we'll have to wait for the Doctor to install it on him before we can do anything else anyway."  
  
"Install it?" Alexius looked at Shepard and saw her nodding, "yes, just like the translator chip you have installed. The omni tool gets put onto your wrist,  it interfaces directly with your nervous system. That's why it has to be done by a Doctor the first time, there is some surgery that is needed for the interface. After that, upgrades can be done yourself or by whoever you trust to do them. Garrus has the know how to disassemble the tools and rebuild them using spare parts of others. Tali can modify them really well and builds apps for them that are beyond anything I ever had before. They are both excellent at making the tool run better than factory."  
  
She turned to both of the aliens vying over who gets to see the tool first, "you break that thing you bought it, after I beat the hell out of both of you. Remember the price of that thing." Tali stopped hopping and grabbing for the box, Garrus flicked his mandibles at her,  giving out an audible hum before lowering the box so they could both see it. Once they were done ogling it Garrus handed it back to Alexius telling him once he gets it installed and the Doctor gives the ok on it,  to come back down,  the three of them can talk and figure out what to do to upgrade it.  
  
"You guys received your bonuses, have fun," Shepard told them as she led Alexius to the elevator. When they turned around to activate it, she saw them both at the requisitions terminal.

"Viama,  why are they so interested in this omni tool?" He held the box closer to him, it was a gift from his Viama and didn't want anything to happen to the box.

"Hmm, well, that is a Spectre grade tool, only Spectres can get anything like that... technically. The black market could, but then you run the risk of being hunted down and having a bad interface experience as it takes a Spectre's authority to execute the activation once it's installed."  
  
Finally the abysmally slow elevator made its way to the crew floor. She introduced him to Doctor Chakwas, who was not pleased that she had been practically forced into a marriage. But like the professional she was, she didn't hold it against Alexius. She took the box with the omni tool after convincing him it would be safe in her office until he came back to have both the device installed and his routine physical done. She explained it was procedure and everyone had to have it, "oh, and Commander. I will need to also speak to you as well. I have information about those plants you fell into." Shepard waved her hand promising to come back a bit later.  
  
The mess hall was next, introducing him to those that were there. Then the crew quarters where Thane was currently meditating in the corner he had claimed as his. No one wanted to argue with an assassin so they let him have the little corner for his shrine and mat. The Captain's quarters were next. The bed was small, as was the desk and chair. The couch took up the one corner. The crew had placed their crates into one of the other corners, securing them with barrier tapes. She scratched her head, made a mental note to have them replace the bed with something larger when she was on the Citadel the next time. Unlike their home they were going to have to share the bed, no way around it. She sighed, might as well check into seeing how much it would cost to expand the room,  it was small as it was for just one person,  it would be overly cramped for the two of them.  
  
The showers came as a surprise still, she gave a shout letting anyone inside know she was coming in, Alexius turned his back when he saw a female standing in the one unit. "It's as I told you, four people. No one cares if it's a female or a male, human or nonhuman. You'll get used to it; it has taken Thane a while as well."  
  
When they rounded the corner from the stairs leading up to the main deck,  Alexius took several steps back. It was crowded, everyone busy working at their stations. Pressly was shouting at several that he wanted those reports fifteen minutes ago. He spotted Shepard, "Commander on deck!" Everyone jumped up, stood at attention and waited for her.

"As you were." The chaos ensued again just at a bit lower volume. "Alexius, this is Navigator Pressly,  he is in charge of the ship when I am not aboard or on downtime. Pressly this is my husband, Alexius Shepard." You could have heard a pin drop at that announcement.  
  
"I told you all. I expect those that lost the bet to pay up,  transfer the credits into my account by the end of the next hour." Joker's voice came out of the speakers in the ceiling.

"They haven't yet learned about betting against you when it comes to what is going on with the ship and the crew? Me specifically?" Shepard crossed her arms and shook her head at the amount of people opening up their omni tools to transfer the creds to Joker.  
  
"Nope. Hope they never do, at this rate I'll have enough for that new self-adjusting,  massaging pilot's chair." Shepard let out a snort at Joker's gleeful sounding quip.

"C'mon,  Alexius,  I'll take you to meet the Normandy's self-proclaimed smart ass ... I mean,  self-proclaimed best pilot the Alliance has ever had."  
  
"I heard that, Commander. Just remember the next time you want to me to stall the Council's calls I may not be able to reach the right button."  
  
"When you meet Joker,  don't try to touch him. He's not fond of people being touchy feely with him. Plus there is the off chance that you could break one of his bones."

* * *

  
  
They spoke with Joker for a while,  then Pressly handed her a datapad with the listing of coordinates they pulled from the omni tools, databanks and from the female Drell. "Ok,  according to this, we should head to the Crescent Nebula. It has single jump access to five different primary relays; two in the Traverse the other three in the Terminus. One extra hop brings them right to the Serpent Nebula and the Citadel. One hop to Omega then they can then hop to almost anywhere else in the Terminus as well. And didn't you say there was a report of a Salarian going missing on Omega?"  
  
"Yeah, the report was dated over two solar weeks ago though. He could be anywhere, if he is still alive.  We don't even know if he was one of the kidnappings or if he just got fed up with that pesthole and left." Joker's hate of that crime ridden place was known to her and only a few others. It had been there that he lost his Mother when the transport shuttle had to put in for emergency repairs. There one minute and gone the next when they stepped off the shuttle to get something to eat. Her body was found a few hours later, violated and mutilated. They were on their way back to the Arcturus Station after visiting a small colony called Tiptree to see about possibly moving there once his mother's contract was up with the Alliance. Instead, it was just his Father and little sister that went to their new home and remained there,  Joker signed up with the Alliance as soon as he was 18.  
  
"Hmm, let's make a quick stop to Omega first, talk to the person that filed the report then head to that other system. Joker, other than the assigned ground teams, keep everyone on board and the ship locked up tight. I'll give the guards orders to shoot anyone attempting to board." Joker grimaced but set course.  
  
Alexius let out a gasp and clutched at Shepard's hand as he looked out of the view port just as Joker engaged the FTL drive sending them hurtling toward the Mass Relay. "Easy, Alexius. Joker is the very best pilot there is, in all seriousness. It's alright. Maybe it's best if you don't look out the ports or windows yet. Get used to not being planetside a bit at a time. Come on." She turned him away from the window where he seemed to be frozen staring at the stars as they appeared to fly past the window. She felt his whole body shaking, heard his frightened trill.  
  
"Alexius, why don't you go ahead to see Doctor Chakwas, have her do your implant now. Make sure she knows of the ones in your arms and answer any questions she may have for you."  They started walking down the aisle toward the galaxy map.

"Viama, what will you be doing? Can you not come down with me?" She waited outside of the door leading to the steps downward.

"I have to call for a ground team meeting,  Omega is a nasty place and I need my group to be ready. Don't worry, the Doc is one of the best and I have grown to trust her since she was assigned to the ship. You will need to remain on board and recover from the surgery and to wait for her clearance to be able to join me on the ground team. I may command this ship,  but without her say so nobody, and I mean nobody, will be allowed on the team. I'll come down as soon as the meeting is done."  
  
He looked like he wanted to say more to her, but just glanced back toward the bridge then slowly went down to where the medical bay was. Shepard let out a soft sigh and went around the corner to the debriefing room and waited for the others to show up for the meeting.

* * *

  
  
"We are going to make a stop on Omega, it is a pisshole of a station. Full of mercs, drugs and crime around every corner and dark alleyway. None of you are to venture out alone. You are to stay in your groups of three,  fully armed and armored at all times. Don't eat or drink anything there. Don't do anyone any favors,  don't sign anything. Keep track of your weapons at all times. Watch each others back. Garrus and Ramirez you are with me, we have to go to see a doctor at a clinic. He filed a missing person report a while ago when the salarian doctor he worked with disappeared. We aren't sure yet if he left of his own volition or was snatched. Ash your group will be left guarding the docking ramp. Kaidan your group is to go see Marsh and Harriot. Grab what we need from them, then get back and guard the cargo bay entrance. Both of those two know to move their asses when it comes to my deliveries. I pay them well for their "mostly legal" goods. The rest of you are to stay on board the Normandy. Armed. Positioned on the inside at the airlock, cargo bay doors, and Jones is to be watching the fueling service entrance. Anyone tries to come on board, other than crew, they are to be dispatched. Goods are to be brought in by the requisitions staff only and only once they are scanned and verified. No outsiders. Any questions?"  
  
No one said anything, "alright,  we have 48 hours before we get there so go relax, make sure Ash gives your weapons a check. Dismissed." She held up a hand to Thane before he could say anything, "she already knows you handle your own weapons. It's fine. If you need supplies request them from her."

* * *

  
  
Shepard stood outside of the med bay window watching as Chakwas carefully implanted the small interface device into the top of Alexius' wrist. It was a longer procedure with him compared to the others because of the implants already there to control his weapons. When she closed the small incision, Chakwas signaled her, and Shepard went in to check on him.  
  
"How's the patient doc?" Shepard went and stood by Alexius's medical bed while the doctor brought up the scans.

"Implantation went well. I want to keep it offline for another 12 hours or so for his system to adjust to another implant,  then we can bring it online and you can activate the interface. We will need to run several tests to make sure it won't interfere with his weapons control or the other way around. Then the device can be turned on and booted up. As far as his physical is concerned,  there are no significant concerns. He needed to be added into the system of course, then the round of immune boosters and vaccinations have been started. That will be a good week before they are done so he is going to have to remain on the Normandy for at least that long. I won't clear him until the tests show positive results for his immunities. I authorized the medical protocols on the decon chambers before you arrived. So as long as no one tries to bypass those he should be safe."  
  
She shut down that screen and pulled up another one,  this one with a hologram of the plant Shepard had fallen on. "It actually took longer than I was expecting to find information on this plant. Had to put in a request to the Salarians for help on the identification. They call it Calycanthus Hydrengeoides,  translates into something like Fairy's Passionflower. Five-foot tall plants, with giant glowing multi-colored flowers that light up when damaged.  The leaves are broad and dark green and can be found only in caves. It gives off the scent of hibiscus and strawberries. Pollinates using animal means."  
  
The doctor cleared her throat. "These plants are extremely rare,  they bloom only once every five years and only remain in bloom for 24 hours. No one, not even the Salarian or Asari have been able to cultivate them in a controlled environment. They have been studying these plants for thousands of years. There was a reason I needed to talk to you about these. There was a note of medical concern that came along with the information. These plants are known as Passionflower for a reason. The pollen makes one more susceptible to feelings of overwhelming desire, should they come in contact with a compatible match."  
  
"What do you mean, compatible match?" Shepard was wiping her forehead again, the feeling of heat was coming back as was the feeling she wasn't going to like this answer.  
  
"Compatible as in sexually able to perform together. For instance, say a bird gets doused with the pollen, if it comes into contact with another bird,  no matter the species,  it has the chance of becoming aroused and ready to mate. If that same bird comes into contact with a cat, well it will not have that reaction. Since you were covered with the spores,  any humanoid that you come into contact with, which can copulate with you, has the chance to trigger that reaction. The sneezing you have been doing is your body's way of trying to rid itself of those spores. It also is spreading them. Thankfully no one else seems affected by it. The decon processes in the ship's air filters have taken care of the ones on board the ship. According to the medical personnel I spoke with on Kahje,  because their domes are sealed, their air filtration systems are top of the line.  No one is affected there either or their nose would start to twitch. Whether Drell sneeze or not I don't know."  
  
_The female makes a sound,  loud,  strange. Dabs at her nose with a cloth from her pocket. My nose twitches._  
_Sweet floral scent.  The scent is like nothing I have ever smelled before. My nose twitches again._  
_It seems to emanate from the Human. I can feel my body stir,  becoming restless._  
_She signs the Covenant; I am hers now. The scent is now stronger._  
  
They both look at Alexius, his eyes were closed, and his fingers gripped the railing on the side of the bed where he was still laying. "Is that ... that pollen, is that why we were able to bond? Is that pollen why we felt as we did?"  
  
Shepard collapsed on the chair, "how long will this last? We are on our way to Omega, and that place is not somewhere that I want to be if these spores are still trying to get me to mate."  
  
"From the research notes that were made available to me the process lasts about a month. When you go to Omega, swap out your air filters on your suit with fresh ones, wear a full face helmet and do not remove it." She cleared her throat, "you may also want to think about... expending  the build up of spores that is in your body."  
  
"What the hell does that mean? Go around sneezing into an air filter?" Shepard was rubbing her temples and blotting her forehead with her sleeve.  
  
Chakwas twitched her lips, "Commander, do you remember feeling hot,  the kind of heat you are feeling right now after you and Alexius consummated your marriage?"  The doctor watched Shepard grab a small cloth from the container near the sink and wash her face with cold water. Dabbing it on her neck and trying to stuff it down her shirt between her breasts inconspicuously.  
  
"I was hot like this before I left for Kahje, during that luncheon too. After we had got back, I thought I was going to melt from the heat. No one else seemed to feel it though." She sat back down and looked at the doctor.

"Commander,  that heat comes from a build up of spores, it makes your body ready to mate. Think back, to when you first saw Alexius, did you feel anything different. Other than shock at the announcement I'm sure."  
  
"His voice...  did something to me. I thought maybe it was because I thought all of the males sounded sexy,  but his sent a shiver along my spine. And now that I think about it; after we... I didn't sneeze or feel hot. Not until last night."  
  
"You sneezed as you took off your helmet, Viama. That was how I knew it was you."  
  
"You are feeling this because those spores are building up, you need to have intercourse in order for them to expend themselves. Sneezing only spreads the few in your nasal passages. Whereas the ...err... exertion of sex causes them to break down their outer barrier in the effort to pollinate. In order to keep the spore numbers at a minimum they need to be expended often. Being as you are not genetically compatible it is not possible to have offspring together. But the spores react as if they can. It is very odd,  I know. But one of the reasons they are trying to cultivate those plants is for a sexual stimulate. One that is temporary and not habit forming, a much safer alternative then what is available right now. Only they can't figure out why it doesn't work for everyone."  
  
"Doc, for the love of God,  are you saying that for me to not feel this heat and not have to worry so much about some loser on Omega trying to get in my pants,  that Alexius and I need to fuck like bunnies until it's out of my system?"  
  
"No need to put it so crudely,  but yes. The more spores you expend, the less reaction from them you will have. At least until the end of their production cycle. Which should be about two more weeks, give or take a few days." Chakwas looked out the medbay window. There were several males hanging around the small tables on their break or downtime, they were between the Med Bay and the Captain's quarters. "I would suggest you do something to expend some of those spores soon. At least before you leave here and make your way across the deck.  There is quite the crowd out there." She opaqued out the window and picked up her coffee cup before walking out the door, locking it behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aphius basin doesn't exist in game. I made it up as the system that contains Kahje and the nearby Rahkhana. There is no official listing of any system for either planet.

* * *

 

 Shepard sat on the stool beside the bed with her head hanging down and her elbows on her knees. This can't be happening. I can't do this. What if I do something to hurt him again? What if...  
  
She started to rock on the stool, her hands now fisting in her hair. "Viama?" She stopped rocking and turned her worried gaze to his. "I do not fully understand what has happened. Is it-- is it only because of that flower that we felt the desire to be together? Was it the reason the bonding worked? And not because of how we felt? Was that the reason you could-- you were able to find completion with me and not because ... because..." His voice cut off because of the constriction his emotions were causing.  
  
"I don't know Alexius. I don't know if it was the pollen, or a combination of that and natural attraction. At least on my end. When you overheard me talking to Joker and I told him you were an incredible guy, I meant it. I also meant what I said when I didn't want to get close and hurt you again. I - I don't know what is acceptable. What you would find repugnant. I can't do this." She got up from the stool and paced the area between the beds and the bank of machines and terminals.  
  
Alexius sat up and swung his legs over the side of the medical bed. "Viama, I am sorry. I am sorry for causing you to feel that way. I didn't know, didn't understand that you were never told about my people. Mother and I thought you already knew these things because of having a Drell already. We did not know he was not also a Pashi to you. When the inquiry was placed for your credentials it did not list a husband, so I could be given to you as a Suinima. I had thought I could ask your Pashi the best way of pleasing you after the initial bonding. But once it was evident that he was not owned by you, I no longer had anyone to ask."  
  
He stood up and walked to her, stopping her pacing. "I enjoyed our kisses; I enjoyed our bonding very much. When I was able to bring you pleasure, it had brought me pleasure as well. I was able to satisfy my wife,  my Viama. I - I had started to find pleasure from what you were doing until - until..."  
  
"Until I took it too far and didn't listen."  
  
Alexius didn't say anything but looked down at the floor.  
  
When she sighed and started to move away from him he touched her arm gently, "Viama, please. I - I will do whatever you want, let you do whatever - whatever you find pleasing... to me. Just don't leave me." His eyes held hers, she felt his hand shaking as it laid on her arm. His nervous swallowing let her know that he was probably thinking of all the degrading things that could be done to him, that he would have to allow to be done to him.

She shook her head, "no, Alexius. That is not how this works. It is not about what I want. It is about both of us. I know your culture is different in that way, but if we are to have any type of real marriage, it must be a mutual thing."  
  
She leaned back against one of the large machines and looked at him, her face turning scarlet. "I - I just wanted to see you that night. I found you incredible,  like nothing I have ever experienced before. I ... was curious. I'm sorry." His ribbing darkened and he nodded while staring at the floor.  
  
"Do you - do you think Mother was right? That we can come to an understanding, a middle ground and both of us be happy?"  
  
Shepard shrugged and walked back to the sink,  once again applying cold water to her face, trying to cool down. "I don't honestly know." She leaned against the sink with her head down. "I don't even know where to start to try and fix this ... thing, between us, Alexius."  
  
He stood behind her, the heels of his hands pushed into his eyes. He wanted his Viama to be like she was before. Accepting of his touch,  enjoying it. Why had he reacted that way? He pulled his hands from his head and looked at them, a thought entered his mind as he did so. Dare he do it? She said she liked his voice, and she responded to his touch. If she was a Drell and he even attempted what he was thinking he would be severely punished without having her permission. But she wasn't a Drell and hadn't seem to mind his taking pleasure; maybe it would be enough to get her to accept him. For them to get past this ... if he dared to touch her first, to kiss her without asking. To show her what he had enjoyed. His hands started shaking again and he swallowed.  
  
Alexius turned his head and saw just how dejected his wife looked. His eyes moving over her body,  seeing the way her shoulders sagged,  her head downcast. He took a breath and came up behind her,  his arms wrapped around her as he placed his head next to hers. "Viama, please. Let us try to just put it behind us. Begin again." His voice was pitched low, a quiet whisper next to her ear, his breath stirred the small hairs near her ears. He felt her shiver as he slid his hands up her stomach to cup her breasts, his fingers finding the small nubs that grew even harder at his touch. He heard her gasp as he quickly flicked the buttons open on her uniform,  reaching inside and taking her breast in his hand. He kissed her on the sensitive spot between neck and shoulder. A slight grazing of his teeth had her groaning. His other hand reached her pants, it took a few seconds for him to figure out the different closures. When they were finally undone his hand slid inside running over the scrap of satin covering her mound. "Viama,  you're so warm, so soft. Just as I remember." He slid his fused fingers past the waistband of her panties and across the tiny patch of hair to where she was rapidly becoming damp.  
  
He groaned in her ear as his fingers found her, the heat and moistness of her surrounded them as they brushed against her. He slightly bit her as he slid them as deep inside her as he could. "You're so tight around my fingers, Viama. I want to be inside you again, to feel that heat surrounding me as I grow large inside you, stretching and filling you. I want to hear your moans and cries as I please you." He began stroking her. His eyes closed as he continued to whisper in her ear. "I want to feel your hands on me, touching my body, your nails scraping against my scales as I hit that one spot deep inside you that causes you to gasp and arch against me."  
  
He felt her body shaking and starting to grind against his hand, her breaths coming out in pants. "I want you to arch your back sending me deeper as you cry out my name when you find completion. Your body shaking and clamping around me, pulsing and squeezing me so tight. Finally becoming too much, and you allow me to release inside of you."  
  
Alexius' ribbing was flushed dark, he was embarrassed to be saying these things to his Viama;  her reactions to his words,  his touch and voice were apparent, she was getting pleasure from it. He pushed aside his feelings and kept it up. "Viama,  I can feel your body growing tighter. Please,  let me inside. Let me bring you pleasure, as you give it to me in return." He returned to kissing her neck,  his groans getting louder as he felt her body shake harder. His tongue and mouth licked and sucked at her neck as his fingers started to move faster.  
  
"Oh God, stop Alexius," she grabbed his hands and held them still against her. She was breathing raggedly. He thought at first he had taken it too far and she was going to punish him. Then he felt the light squeeze to his hands as she removed them from her body. She turned in his arms and kissed him,  her lips crashing against his. He blinked several times then closed his eyes to enjoy the feel of her lips on his, her slide and twist of her tongue against his. He felt her hand moving along his chest and felt his vest opening up,  he let it fall to the floor as she pushed it from his body.  
  
Her own shirt fell as he pushed it from her, one hand going to her breast and the other to her waist. Her hands moved over him and he let out a deep growl , he felt her hands at the fastenings of his skin tight leather pants. The top strap loosened and her warm palm slipped inside,  her fingertips brushing against the small protuberance before cupping it in her hand. He let out a groan and panted, his head tipping back as he savored her touch on him.  
  
Her lips and tongue moved across his chest as her other hand traveled his arm then back up to stroke along his ribbing. She withdrew her hand from inside his pants and he looked down at her,  hoping that she wasn't going to stop, wasn't going to draw away out of worry. She took a step back and after taking his hands in hers led him to  one of the rolling desk chairs. She finished undoing the fastenings of his pants, slid her thumbs between the soft leather and his scales and pushed on the top of his pants, sliding them down until they pooled down around his knees. He stood staring at her,  not exactly sure what she was going to do to him.  
  
"Sit on the chair, please." Her request came as she once more started to kiss him. He eased down, hoping the seat wouldn't move out from under him and dump them unceremoniously to the floor. He sat on the chair taking off his own boots and pants, while watching her bending over to unlace her boots before taking them off. Her pants quickly followed leaving her in a tank top and panties. He swallowed, as she moved closer to him, bending slightly to capture his hands and to bring them to her hips. Somewhere along the line he seemed to have lost his courage. His hands shaking as she stroked his head, her fingers finding the ridges. "Remove them, Alexius."  
  
His eyes dropped to her hips where the thin straps were holding her panties on, edging his fingers up the inside of them he moved his palms to cup her ass.  His nose gave a slight wiggle as the strong scent of the pollen spores came to him, so sweet and fragrant, he leaned a bit closer to her catching an underlying scent, pheromones from her arousal. He edged her panties down, the scent becoming stronger as he did so. His eyes closed as he inhaled the intoxicating fragrance that wafted from her, pressing closer until his nose and lips touched her. He heard her indrawn breath and felt her hands pause in stroking his head.  
  
He opened his eyes and glanced up,  seeing her own head tilted back with her eyes closed and her lower lip drawn between her teeth. He wasn't sure what he had done to cause that look on her face and wished he did. She let go of her lip and stroked his head once again before looking down and giving him a small smile.  She pushed gently on his shoulders as she wiggled around and sat on his lap. His eyes searched her face,  then closed as she started to kiss him again. Her hands running nimbly over his shoulders, across his chest. The chair gave a slight wiggle as she pressed closer to him, he let out a groan as he felt the heat from her settle on him. His kisses had turned rougher, and his hands finally started to move on her own body as he felt the moisture soaking into the thin leather-like covering over the small bump that concealed his maleness.  
  
"Viama? I can't hold it in much longer, are you sure?" He ran his hands over her waist, his mouth kissing his way to her neck. She ground into him, and he gasped, holding her still.  
  
She felt it then, slowly moving up inside her. Alexius startedpanting into her neck, a low growling coming from him. His hands started to move again as did his lips. He eased her tank top up and pulled it off, baring her breasts to him. She hadn't been wearing one of her chest coverings, and he wanted her bare to his gaze. He let out a slight hiss as his mouth closed over one of the peaked nubs of her breasts. She let out a gasp and gripped his shoulders.  
  
She groaned as she felt him swelling inside her,  those delicious ridges becoming harder and starting to move against her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as his grip tightened on her and he began to growl louder,  the vibrations coming from him, sinking into her body as his cock stretched and filled her like no other.  His ridges started to move faster, massaging her walls harder. He was panting as his hands moved over her. "Vi- Viama,  I - please I want more. Let me go deeper."  
  
She wasn't sure what he was asking she could only cry out a "yes."  
  
He bunched his muscles and stood up from the chair, twisted and laid her on the desk that had been behind him. He hooked her thighs around his arms and lifted her lower body up, arching her back. He threw back his head and gasped as he felt himself growing, pushing toward her cervix,  the growl he let out as he finally reached her echoed in the medical lab.  
  
"Oh my God, Alex." Shepard gasped and felt like she was going to split from how much larger he had grown. When he started to move inside her she cried out again. Her hand grasping his wrist,  her other hand swept out trying to find something to grip. Her body started to shake as she neared her climax, her legs trying to pull him in closer. One of his arms shifted and she felt his fingers brush her clit and she let out a loud cry as she reached her orgasm, he soon followed. She could feel him pouring into her. He stayed pressed to her,  his whole body still shaking from his own release until finally he felt himself recede back behind the cover and the slit close. He leaned over her, nuzzling her neck and let out a sigh, "Viama."

* * *

  
  
There was nothing she could do. There was no way she could get from the medical bay to her quarters without everyone in the mess hall seeing her. Seeing her looking like a woman that had been well and truly fucked by her husband. Her hair was a mess, there was a hickey showing up on her neck and the collar of her shirt didn't do a thing to cover it. She had that damn glow in her eyes and on her cheeks that blared out to everyone, "yeah, that's right, I just had the orgasm to end all orgasms" and she was walking funny. Then there was the fact that they had been locked inside the med bay for the past two hours.  
  
She kept trying to stroke her hair into some semblance of order as she watched Alexius casually shrug into that skin tight coat, the only difference she could see with him was he wasn't looking so sad any more. She straightened her shirt again and twitched her pants, she had no idea where her panties had disappeared to and could feel his semen starting to drip and soak her pants. She had to hurry and grab some clothes and get to the shower. But Alexius seemed to have other ideas and was taking his own sweet time making sure his clothing was straight and presentable. "Hurry up a bit, Alex. I need to get a shower and ... stuff."  
  
"I am sorry for taking so long, Viama. But I must make sure I am presentable so as not to disgrace you." He twitched his vest one last time,  the lines on each piece of clothing perfectly straight. She grabbed a hold of his hand and practically dragged him to the door, she put in the emergency override code, the lock went from red to green and the door swished open. She popped her head out taking a quick glance around, then tugged on him.  
  
She made it out the door and almost to the first table before she heard it. The sniggering of her damn pilot. That damn snarky sound that she heard since she was a kid and first met her cousin at the family reunion.  
  
He had been the only witness to her little accident. She hadn't meant to break the small glass bird on her aunt's shelf,  she just wanted to look at it closer. The sniggering had stopped however when her father had come into the room and started yelling and berating her, calling her clumsy and an idiot. After he had shook her causing her to fall then storming from the room, the little boy had slowly made his way out from behind the chair. "Hey,  are you ok? Don't listen to him. It was an accident and Mom buys those things by the dozens 'cuz they are always breaking. Don't worry, Mom won't be mad at you."  
  
"No,  he's right. I shouldn't have touched it. Anything me or my Mom touches breaks or goes bad somehow. I'm really sorry." She had picked herself up from the floor and quickly left. She hadn't found out until later that he was her cousin and he rarely ever left the house because of his medical problem.  
  
Now here she was again, being caught doing something she shouldn't have been and hearing that damn laugh. "At least you didn't break him."  
  
"Oh shut up and go fly the ship or something."

He laughed again, "ahh, Commander, the joys of having a VI for an autopilot. I can set it and forget it while I make my way down to get my coffee."  
  
She rolled her eyes at him and kept trying to sneak her way across the deck followed by a purple Drell. "Uh. Commander. If you're trying to not be noticed,  you should tell your rather colorful husband that he should sneak, not just walk upright." Shepard let out a sigh and hung her head. "You should also think about carrying a small comb or something because your hair is all...well, certainly not regulation, Ma'am."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind, Ash."  
  
After enduring several more remarks from her ground crew and setting a few nonground crew members straight on how to speak to a Commanding Officer, she finally made it to their room. "Well, that was a nightmare."  
  
"I do not understand, Viama. Why were you trying not to be seen with me?" Alexius stood near the couch; he was once again looking sad that he may have done something wrong.

"Oh, no. Alex, it wasn't that I didn't want to be seen with you. I didn't want to be seen at all. See, I am not exactly looking like a by the book Commander at the moment. Technically I'm not on off duty hours,  so must follow certain rules and regulations."  
  
She grabbed up a small plastic container of her toiletries and a clean set of BDUs and underthings before reaching for the terminal on her small desk. "Attention crew,  we are now on casual uniform protocol. You may wear approved casuals, BDUs, or issued military training workout clothes. Non Alliance crew members, please be advised you can wear your own casual sets as long as they fall within the guidelines. If in doubt speak with Chief Williams or the LT."  
  
"Viama,  what about me? What should I wear?" He stood near her now,  he understood that it was duty that she had acted as she did. "Oh,  uh. You can wear your armor, or the clothes like what you had on during the Covenant signing. Um ... I'm not sure what else you have. Thane usually just wears the same thing day in and day out, it just changes from black to a gray. He also has workout clothes. After I get back from a quick shower we can go through your clothes container and see what you have."  
  
He started to follow her into the bathroom when she turned around, "Alex, what are you doing?"  
  
"Attending to your shower, Viama, as is my duty." 

Shepard started shaking her head, "Nuh uh, you can't do that here. Unless you are using the facilities to shower or relieve yourself,  you need to stay out. It gives them at least a sense of privacy. Plus it would make everyone very uncomfortable, including me, if we showered together while on board the ship. I will work on the schedule so that we can shower at the same time,  but not together. Understand?"  
  
He gave a brief nod then stood next to the door. Shepard sighed and went in.

* * *

  
  
The next several hours were wearing on Shepard, Alexius followed her everywhere. While she didn't have a problem with some of the areas of the ship,  there were others where the crew wanted privacy for bringing matters to her attention. Finally she suggested he stay with Thane or even up on the bridge with Joker until her rounds were done. She called Joker and told him to close the shutters that Alexius was making his way to the bridge, and to entertain him until she was off duty. She didn't count on Joker providing Alexius with a video form of entertainment. When she couldn't find him on the bridge she went back to her room. The sound of badly done porn groans and that god awful music sounded out as she slid the door open. To her embarrassment the mess hall was filled with the dinner crowd. "Joker, I'm going to kill you!"  
  
Shepard spent the next hour dealing with Alex and his questions that cropped up concerning what he had seen in those vids. She embarrassingly explained that those people did things that most others didn't,  that in some cases what he had seen and heard was faked. That some of them had their bodies altered or enhanced to look that way or be able to do the things they did.  
  
She went through his clothing and set out several sets of clothes that fell into regulations. Most of them did, but these looked the most comfortable.  
  
She waited until most of the people that were in the mess hall left then took him out and put together something to eat. Starting the next morning they would be eating with the others and more than likely there would be questions,  but most of them wouldn't pay too much attention to him other than basic inquiries.

* * *

  
  
"Attention ground crew. We will be arriving at the Omega docks in two hours. Suit up and report to your teams and posts." Shepard's announcement went out ship-wide, and the crew scrambled.  
  
"Alexius, you can either stay here in the room or go up to the bridge. But do not leave this ship under any circumstance. This place is dangerous. You can suit up in your armor and weapons if it would make you feel more comfortable. The doc assured me that everything was running smoothly with your implants. Your omni tool is online. You can play with it and learn its functions. I'm sure Garrus has explained it, Tali isn't done with your apps yet though. Do not let Joker send you any more porn."

 

* * *

  
  
Alexius sat in the navigator's chair and watched the holo screens; Joker had them tapped into both the audio and video feeds from the various team member's helmets. So he could see everything. They watched as Ash and her team brought their weapons up aiming for the Salarian that was coming toward their airlock. The Salarian turned back and ran when Ash warned him away then released the safety on her rifle. They watched as Kaidan told Harriot that they were not interested in one of his limited edition spice racks.  
  
Joker did something on his terminal and brought up the screen that showed Shepard's group. From the angle, it was the feed from Garrus' visor. They watched as a group of Batarian thugs thought to assault their small group. Shepard shot one,  Garrus peppered several with his rifle and several flashes of Ramirez's knife were seen before their group moved on,  leaving only a pile of dead bodies behind. No one seemed to care.  
  
Alexius let out a trill and Joker looked at him, "this is Omega. This place is not for the gentle and kind. Don't feel bad for those bastards; they got what was coming to them. If they would have stayed away from their group nothing would have happened. But they weren't there to say, 'Hi, how are you?', they knew it was Shepard and what she is."  
  
No one else came anywhere near their group as they made their way down to where the sign on the wall read "Clinic." Inside there were Turians, Batarians, and Salarians; a few Asari here and there and several Humans.  
  
"Someone filed a missing person report a while ago on a salarian doctor. We would like to talk to him." They told her to go into the back room and speak with a Human named Daniel.  
  
After initially refusing to believe they were there to actually help him she showed him her Spectre ID and then he shakily sat down. If a Spectre was here it was important. "Now tell me everything you can remember before he disappeared. Why do you think he was kidnapped and not just left this hell hole? Give us anything and everything in detail." Garrus stepped up beside her and started a separate app on his omni tool to record everything. The biometric reader in his visor confirmed that the male indeed thought the doctor had been kidnapped,  no signs of stress from telling lies. Daniel handed her an OSD,  telling her that Doctor Solus had made notes on what he saw and left several names of ships. He had found it after he had made the initial report and was waiting until someone actually came to do something. "Doc, this is Omega. No one would have responded to your report unless they had a whole other reason to find this Salarian. That includes me."  
  
"Garrus, scan this thing, see if there is anything on there that matches up with what we are looking for. If it does, then we go after this missing Salarian. If it doesn't, then we move on."  
  
Garrus slid the OSD into a compartment of his suit and used his omni tool to link it up. "Salarian military grade encryption. This may take a few minutes." Garrus watched his HUD and when the decryption program was finished, scanned the files. "Description matches to what they were looking for. The notes said he had witnessed them taking some Humans and Asari. Heard they were looking for a Salarian doctor, specialized in genetics. Made notes of appearance, copies of recorded conversations. The bastard is sneaky, I'll give him that. He had been following them around the station for days and they never knew it. Listings of several ship names he had overheard,  whether they are targets or slave ships, he doesn't say." Garrus grew quiet as he watched the last entry. "He let himself be caught. Overheard one of them tell the others to report to "the Ghunne", they were headed for a Drell pickup. Said unlikely they would use a control chip on him, it degrades higher brain functions and if they were looking for a doctor it would be counterproductive to impair his brain function."  
  
Joker sat up and pressed a holo button, "Commander, that was the name of the Freighter we got in Kahje space. The ship's logs showed a registered relay jump into the Osun system, then a series of jumps three days later to the Aphius Basin and straight to Kahje where we got them."  
  
"So a long layover in Osun. Joker, get me a listing of everything in that system. Every spaceport, planet, and if there are any ships having anything in that system listed as their port of call."  They headed back to the ship and waited for the requisitions people to scan their purchases and bring them on.  
  
Joker had sent her a listing of everything in that system. As she sat at the mess hall table with Alexius and Garrus, who was showing Alexius how to play games on his omni tool, she looked over the list.  
  
"Joker, find out everything you can about a prison ship called "Purgatory,"  that would be a perfect place to have as a drop-off or pick up location for that amount of bodies."  
  
"On it, Commander."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on a chapter.
> 
> For those of you still reading, thanks for sticking with it.
> 
> Before reading the new chapter I would like to thank you for the comments and would also like to clear up a few things :) concerning this story's societal structure. Silvara brought up a few things that I hadn't made clear and hopefully this will help :)
> 
> The females of the Drell hold the titles. The males do not in any way, shape or form do so. They are used to further bloodlines, as workers or consorts. The males are trained for combat, given into the Compact to serve in those positions that are more likely to come into contact with outsiders. Or ones such as Thane, trained specialists.
> 
> Alexius, no matter that he is the first born male of a high ranked Matriarch, is not a Prince. There are no Princes, Lords, Counts etc... At first, if Shepard had been married he was going to be gifted to her as a consort to serve her needs beside of Thane, who they thought was her first consort. But that changed when they were told she was unmarried. The Matriarchs decided to marry him to her. Shepard is a stronger female and had shown more honor than his originally intended Viama. Had things progressed he would have been married off to a different woman, or like his younger brothers been sold or traded on the marriage market. They are not slaves, they serve the females in whatever capacity they are suited or trained for. Alexius was trained and groomed to be a guard and a mate or a consort.
> 
> Shepard's actions are sometimes governed by that little nagging voice in her head that sounds like her father. Always putting her down, making her second guess herself, making her feel like a small child again. One that was only told how much of a disappointment, how clumsy and stupid. So yes, she may act strangely but try and keep this in mind as I won't always do the lines for that tiny voice. Usually that voice can be kept at bay during missions when she is so focused on her objective that her stronger self emerges. One that she has to constantly try to mimic in her everyday life but sometimes fails at.
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy the story.

* * *

 

 "Viama? Why are you not letting me come along? It is my duty to protect you. The Doctor has given me clearance to accompany you on missions now that my body has started to build up immunity." Alexius stood by Shepard as she pulled out her gear from the locker and began to change. The ground crew she had chosen for this mission was there as well murmuring among themselves and doing their best to ignore the two of them.  
  
She slid her legs into the undersuit before pulling it up and doing the tight pant wiggle to get the skintight underarmor on. After grunting and pushing her arms into it, she looked over at him, "Alexius, it's too dangerous here. If this is indeed the place that they are using for their slave ring having a Drell just walk into the facility could cause issues. That's why Thane isn't going either. Both of you are staying on this ship while we are docked to it."  
  
He reached over to help her into her hard-suit even though she had done it countless times herself and many of those times when she was more or less still asleep. But she didn't say anything to him; she just let him do it.

"But Viama, if you find my people they won't understand you. From what the reports showed all of the ones taken except for the merchants would not have a translator."  
  
She grabbed her helmet and he followed her to the weapons bench where Ash was double checking the weapons that the crew had requested as their load outs. Except Garrus, he took care of his own and Ash didn't argue with him after Shepard had laid into her and told her to stow the racism and actually learn about her fellow crew members and not lump them into generalities. "I know that Alexius, but Garrus and Tali has come up with an app for the basic translation software from the computer's memory banks. It isn't complete but will have to do until we can get them on board and then we can figure out something else."  
  
"Commander, ETA is fifteen minutes from the ship. I sent off the request as soon as we got within range and have hacked their communications and been monitoring it. So far nothing other than a few outgoing messages that will take a while to decrypt. Already have the VI working on it and will update when the code is cracked. There hasn't been any ships coming or going from it. The guy that was monitoring the comms however refused to let us dock, that is until I told him this was a Spectre vessel and should he refuse again a notification would be sent to the Council then we will begin to force the issue by blowing several holes in their hull."  
  
"Joker,  what have I told you about doing that? We don't blow holes in ships unless they give us a reason or they piss me off. Hopefully, they won't do something drastic if they are holding those slaves there." She picked up the freshly cleaned and modded weapons placing them on her suits magnetic harnesses. "Attention crew, all support armed personnel report to the lower airlock. Joker as soon as we clear the airlock doors to engage safety protocols. Alpha protocols are to be in place. Is that understood?"  
  
There was a longer than usual pause before his voice came back. "Aye Commander. Understood."  
  
Alexius' full lips drew down into a frown, over the last day he had spoken to more of the crew who treated him well and was friendly enough to answer some of his questions as long as they weren't ones that delved into classified areas of the ship. Even though he was married to the Commander he wasn't Alliance or given direct clearance for the information. Until the Commander explicitly said so, that intel was not given out. No one mentioned this "Alpha Protocol" to him and he didn't know what it meant. He walked beside her as the group made their way down to where the airlock was on the lower levels. The team kept chatter to a minimum,  each mentally preparing for anything they could possibly encounter after they left the ship.  
  
"Viama? May I ask why you are using this airlock and not the usual one?" Alexius' soft voice held a note of confusion to it, and she glanced up at him.

"This airlock can better be defended. Joker can use his terminal to seal off the rest of the ship if they get it into their heads to try and board. The other one gives direct access to the bridge and if that is lost we lose the ship. This one, well they have to try and override the access codes and get through each of these individual bulkhead doors. The auxiliary defenders will be behind us, and several will remain at each of them to take out anyone stupid enough to try to take the ship."  
  
They arrived at the internal airlock door, and the ground crew went inside and gave them a semblance of privacy. Alexius reached out and took her hand. "Viama, what is Alpha Protocol and why did Joker hesitate?"  
  
She banged her helmet lightly against her armored thigh while staring into those mesmerizing purple eyes. "It means that if the shit hits the fan and the Normandy comes under attack from the outside, to break away from station and to take out whatever is attacking them, even if it means leaving the ground crew. If the Normandy is outnumbered and Joker deems it unsafe to remain he will take the ship to a predetermined location and report to the Council. They will give him his next orders or more than likely will be released to take the ship back to the Headquarters on Earth for reassignment to another Captain. The non-Alliance crew that is left will be given compensation and transportation to their choice of stations or return to their homeworlds."  
  
He gripped her gauntlet clad hand in his, and his eyes moved over her face, "but, Viama,  what about you and the others?"  
  
"Alexius,  there is a reason why the Spectres work alone or in very small groups and are not involved with others in a deeper relationship than stress relief. This is why. We can not worry about our spouses, children and all the people we love during missions. It is a distraction, one that can cost us everything. This crew is as close to a family as I was going to have and be able to remain a Spectre. You don't need to worry about anything Alexius,  you will be taken care of should something happen to me. The paperwork was already filed with the Alliance and you have been named my beneficiary in all matters. You won't have to worry about being sent to a lesser Matriarch or being sold on the marriage market. Thane has agreed to oversee you in adapting to the ways outside of the dome should it become necessary. But trust me, I am not planning on letting these damn slavers get the better of me or my crew. There is a very good reason why I was given this mission and why I handpicked my ground crew. Not to mention the ones that I have picked up since this mess began have proven their worth many times over. This is a strong team, one I trust implicitly to get us through any mess." She worked her hand free of his grasp and gently stroked her hand down his arm. "I am counting on you to provide protection to Joker while I am off this ship," she gave him a gentle smile, one he failed to return to her. "Now if you please, give me a quick kiss so I don't keep the others standing around too much longer and have them go stir crazy in that little space."  
  
Alexius stared at her for a moment before leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Please come back to me, Viama. Do not leave me alone here; I have no one else." Her eyes searched his seeing the shine of unshed tears, and she gave a soft sigh before turning from him to enter the airlock.

"Joker start running the scans looking for hidden areas of the ship that could house that many cages or places of spiked energy use for containers." She watched the hatch close as Joker's voice came to him telling him he needed to get to the bridge so that the lockdown could start.

 

* * *

  
  
"Spectre Shepard, this is a secure facility, and it is the policy that all visitors disarm before entering. You may retrieve your weapons as you leave." The guard that was blocking their way said to her, his blue and white armor was so reminiscent of that worn by several of the mercenaries that they had already killed pretty much tipped her off that they were on the right trail.  
  
She let out a snort and glared at the Turian in front of her. "You do not try and disarm a Spectre without dire consequence. Do you want to go down that road? I don't give up my weapons... ever. Neither does my crew. They are operating under my authority and will remain armed." She narrowed her eyes at the male through her visor on her helm and waited. Her hands near enough to the butt of her shotgun while remaining relaxed.  
  
"Ma'am, I'm just doing my job."  
  
"I don't give a flying fuck. You are interfering in a Council authorized Spectre investigation. Either move, or I will move you in a not so pleasant way." Shepard's hand moved closer to her weapons as did the others, not more than an inch but just enough to let the guard know they meant it.  
  
The door opened behind the Turian, and an older male came forward. Dressed in that same armor and looking worn. Garrus let out a sound that reminded her of a series of rapid clicks, and she heard him whisper over the comm, "barefaced...". She'll have to have him explain it to her at a later time.  
  
"Spectre, I am Warden Kuril,  I run this facility. Do we have a problem here?" The male came sauntering down the stairs and as he drew nearer the hairs on the back of her neck went up. A barely noticeable twitch came from Garrus, and she went on alert, he must have also felt something off with this male other than him being this "barefaced."  
  
"There is no problem. Just informing the guard that under no circumstances are my crew and myself giving up our weapons." There was a long pause, and she noticed the slight narrowing of his washed out blue eyes.

"I see. Well,  since you are a Spectre we will make the exception. After all,  there are only three of you. I am sure should any issues arise we will be able to handle them fairly quickly."  
  
_So they think that they would be able to deal with the three of them with no problems... they had no clue who they were dealing with._  
  
"Now, down to business. What does a Spectre want with a privately held and funded prison ship?" Kuril stood blocking the entryway to the main part of the ship and Shepard raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms.

"We are handling the disappearance of several Asari and a few from other races. We are to search this entire system for them. This facility included."  
  
"Hmm. We house criminals from almost every species here. Their homeworlds pay the fees to keep them in a secure location off world. The costs are lower than would otherwise have to be paid to house them locally. It can help lower the burden on their populace." Kuril placed his hands behind his back and stared down at her. "Only criminals are here; this is not a hotel or a vacation resort."  
  
Shepard stiffened at the comments and took several steps closer to the taller male. "Do not smart mouth me. I am in no mood to play games. I am here to search the facility. Move." The Turian's mandibles twitched and then pulled tight to his face, he continued to block the way. "Normandy, this is Spectre Shepard. Prepare to leave the dock and target the ship in the area to cause the most damage with the lowest chance of casualties."  
  
"Aye, Commander. I told you we should have just blown the holes in it, to begin with. Override locks commencing in 5...4...3...2...".  
  
Kuril stepped aside as the lights flashed and the computerized voice said that the docking clamps had been released. "Hold up on blowing the holes, Joker. But keep the areas targeted just in case. Try not to let your finger tap on the fire button by accident this time. You know what to do."  
  
"Take away all my fun, Commander. Fine... I will do my best to control the temptation. Normandy out."  
  
Shepard flicked her fingers and the two members that accompanied her slowly walked behind her toward the door,  each one keeping their eyes on the guards and Warden. Her eyes didn't leave the males even after she heard the one guard tell him that the Normandy's weapon systems were locked onto the ship near the cryo generator area and drive core. Apparently, Joker wasn't going to mess around with low impact areas. Should they get stupid they were going to be very,  very sorry.  
  
Shepard backed up a few steps until she was through the door then they started their search. None of the guards got in their way at first, but all of them refused to talk to them. "Joker, how are you on the decryption and location search?"  
  
"An actual map of the prison ship is done, sending the update to your HUD now. The VI decrypted the first message it was a notice sent to a location saying you were here. The ones that came from the other place used a different coding system. The VI is working on it now."  
  
The light on Garrus' visor started to flash when he loaded up the map. "There are several possibilities, refining the search perimeters. Looking for areas that have power surges." They started moving down the corridor the group on high alert, noticing the absence of guards.  
  
"Joker, the creepies are back, something isn't right. Be ready." Shepard and the others put their hands on their weapons and cautiously made their way to the next intersection.

Garrus stopped them and updated their maps with highlights to two rooms. "Both of these rooms show recent power surges in the computer logs. Both rooms are large enough to hold hundreds of containers or cages, Shepard."  
  
There were only three of them and it looked like they would only get one chance at picking the right room. Once they revealed why they were there exactly they would probably meet resistance. Even she knew this place couldn't be run strictly on what the homeworlds would pay them. They stopped in front of one of the occupied cells and she pretended to check a list against the person inside the cell. "Garrus, hack the logs further back, check the dates of those surges with the dates given to us from the Matriarchs and Primacy when the Drell were taken. We knew it took three days this last time so factor that in as well. Then tell me which room had the surge during that three day window. I can't see them keeping the power way up once they got all of them in there,  they are most likely in the dark and only kept at minimum survival needs to cut costs."  
  
Shepard moved to the next cell and waited. Garrus' visor showed text passing by so rapidly she didn't know how he could even tell what was showing on his HUD.

"Got it. Only one room had a constant surge over that three day period. Mapping quickest route and sending the coordinates to Joker. I hate to say it... but depending on how many there are we may have to move them,  cages and all onto the Normandy then haul our collective asses out of the system instead of letting them out right away."  
  
She let out a snarl and gave him a brief nod. When they reached the area where the map showed a door, they were greeted by several armed guards. They took them out as quickly as they could before Garrus used a bypass hack on the lock system. They heard booted feet running at them just as the door opened and they ran inside. Several shots rang out as the door slid shut and Garrus shot out the locking console. Ramirez ran to the other door and did the same before they both used a liquid sealant on the doors that would give them a few extra minutes should they try to run a bypass.  
  
Shepard turned on her light and raised her weapon when she heard a noise behind her. The light fell on cage after cage piled on top of each other,  four or five high. All filled with people. Humans, Drell, Asari. There were even the hissing noises from a few that had Volus sitting in them. "Holy fucking hell." She whispered. "Joker, get your ass over here. We need the exterior crew to open that outer airlock and get it attached to the lower level. Get the requisitions crew on duty, we will need them to move approximately 100 to 150 cages of people as fast as possible."  
  
"Shit. On it Commander. A comm was sent out, and another received the minute you broke into that room. They are ordered to dispose of anything that would interrupt their business. Including the stock. You need to be ready for anything."

Shepard began the pre recorded message that played in a variety of languages, basically saying she was a Spectre and they were there to help them an not to be afraid.

 

* * *

  
  
Joker sent out ship wide comms to the crew and by the time he got the Normandy into position they were ready. Within minutes the exterior crews were locked onto the hull of the prison ship setting up the barrier and atmospheric system. Once that was done they activated the door to the Normandy and the ramp extended out. They bypassed the lock once the computer notified them it was safe to do so. When they ran inside to help move the cages they came to a stumbling halt not prepared for what they saw.  
  
"We need to hurry, Commander. They are already amassing. I am locking down their system as fast as I can to slow them down." Joker's voice came over the comm, and she started directing the other crew to grab the loaders that were in the corner and start moving. They had every loader on the Normandy running as well as the ones from the room going; still, they knew they were running out of time and she started opened the doors. The three of them got as many out as they could before some of the other crew came over and helped.  
  
"Commander. They broke through the passcode on the first set of doors. You have approximately 40 minutes before they get to the ones you guys sealed up." Shepard didn't even slow down opening up the cages to give an affirmative. Now that the people in the cages saw that they were not being shocked or punished they came out faster and moved as quickly as they could. In one of the last cages, she found a Salarian calming sitting near the door waiting to be let out.  
  
"Ahh. A Spectre. Notified of my disappearance? Why would you look for me? Maybe not here for me. Maybe already looking for the missing people. Coincidence." His rapid speaking gave her pause. "Not now. No time for chatting. Will be on board attending to the victims." The Salarian hustled his way toward the airlock still rattling off.  
  
"Shepard, haul your ass. They are starting to cut through the doors." Joker's voice rang out over the comm and the rest of the crew rushed to the still locked cages, grabbing whoever was inside and carrying them to the ship,  they had no time for the weakened people to make it on their own. She caught up two teens that were in one cage and took off running as Garrus laid down covering fire at the door, keeping the guards from shooting into the room without being hit themselves. The rest of the crew finished opening the cages then laid down fire as Garrus lifted a male that had collapsed on the ground to his shoulder and ran for the airlock with the last of the crew right behind him. Once they were on board the head of the exterior crew hit the command codes into his omni tool and the portable airlock barrier collapsed. They watched as the prison ship activated the safety protocols sealing the door. Joker enabled the small warp drive and they were gone.

 

* * *

  
  
Thane and Alexius moved through the cargo bay where the medical staff was treating all of the released slaves. Shepard was talking to the Salarian and listening to his advice on their treatment.  
  
"The embedded control chips, you can safely remove them?" She asked the fast talking salarian who had finally told her his name was Mordin Solus and he was a geneticist but had other medical knowledge as well as other skills.  
  
"Yes. Though not with the equipment that is probably what you have on board a military vessel. Suggest going to either Kahje to use the Illuminated Primacy's hospital and research facility they have under the main Hanar government building. They will deny having it. It is there, make them let us use it. Or we can go to Salarian base on Prannas. Further away. Shouldn't waste more time. Longer implant remains the more chance of damage to brain from scarring." He walked over to an Asari and checked her neck, the scar from where the control chip had just been implanted still looked red and raw. "Shame you could only get to half of the people that they had taken. The others were being held in another room. Mostly children."  
  
Shepard dropped her helmet, and many of the people turned toward her. "What?"  
  
"Thought you knew. Younger children, mostly Human. From colony raided the day we left Omega by another slaver. They were taken to a separate room. Overheard talk. Said going to a special buyer that likes them young." The Salarian finally looked up at her and stopped talking.  
  
"We have to go back. Joker, turn us around. We need to go back. We need to get to them." Shepard said, her voice coming out barely above a whisper since her throat had constricted to keep the bile she could taste from spewing from her mouth.  
  
"I'm sorry Commander. But we can't do that. They will be ready in case we come back. The computer was finally able to decipher that last message that came in. It was about that other room, non-specific, told them to ship the ones left behind out in the morning to the same location. The pings from the message put them somewhere in the Ismar Frontier. We can head there and hide off of the Mass Relay. When they come through, we can take the ship and hope for the best. But Shepard,  we can't go back and get them."  
  
Alexius and Thane came over to her. "Viama, you didn't know. You have saved so many."

She looked up at him. "I didn't do enough; I didn't make the right call. I should have split us up or called for more people to check both of those damn rooms. This is all my fault."  
  
Garrus had overheard and came over to her. "Commander..., Shepard. No, it isn't. You made the right call with the information we had. We had no way of knowing that both rooms would be used at the same time since the spikes didn't coincide. You have rescued over 100 people from enslavement. Joker got us the information we can use to get more. Or we can take the ones that are safe now and get them treatment."  
  
She hung her head,  her stomach knotted in such a way as she didn't think it would ever work itself out. "We go for the others. In the meantime, Thane I may need your help with "convincing" the Hanar to let us use that secret hospital of theirs. Then I am going off duty for a few hours; I need to work this out in my head."  
  
Shepard gave a last look to the multitude of people huddling on mats and what blankets they had on hand. Several of the crew were using the fabricator to make as many as they could with the supplies on hand, but she doubted they would have enough materials to help all of them. She spotted Doctor Chakwas and a group of her assistants moving around checking each person then triaging them. They moved the critical ones to an annex room where they would receive the best treatment they could with the portable equipment.  
  
Why didn't she realize sooner that only the adults and teens were the ones in that room. There were no younger children of any species locked in there. The two kids she had picked up must have been the youngest of the ones left there, a Human female and an Asari. She found where they were huddled together on one blanket with another wrapped around them both and approached them.  
  
"How are you two doing?" She asked them as she squatted down in front of them,  bringing herself down to their level instead of looming over them. They both stared at her with scared expressions. "My name is Commander Shepard. I am a Council Spectre. We are going to take you somewhere to get those chips removed,  then bring you to a safe place where they can help you get back to your families." They still didn't say anything just clung tighter to each other. She gave them a small smile and told them to try and get some rest before she stood up and headed out the cargo bay through the portable decon chamber and up to the comm room where Thane was waiting for her.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

 

 Shepard was standing in her quarters,  it looked like a hurricane had ripped through it. Chairs on their sides, datapads laying on the floor and broken from their impact against the wall. Bedding tore from the bed and laying in a shredded heap at her feet. She was facing the opposite wall with tears of anger still streaking her face at what she had done. At what she was unable to do.  
  
The Hanar had refused. No matter how much coaxing she had tried,  the amount of anger she had thrown at them or threats. It hadn't mattered that Thane had requested, as had the Ariki. They wouldn't give them permission to use the facility. They wouldn't even acknowledge it was there. The Ariki stared at the Hanar that was on the holo screen, her back straightened and she said "so be it",  to refuse her people's request was going to have repercussions.  After they had disconnected from the hanar,  her Drell "mother" called over her assistant and ask her to send a request for an audience with the Council.  
  
"Joker,  as soon as we get those other captives on board head straight for Prannas. Mordin has already contacted the base there and they willingly agreed to let him use the small facility. No stops for anything." Her shaking voice cracked before she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. She heard the door to the cabin open and heard a swiftly indrawn breath.  
  
"Viama? What can I do to help you? I am here to serve your needs, I will do whatever you require to help you through this." He bent down and started to gather up the articles of clothing placing them on the couch,  he would fold and put the ones away that were still usable. The rest would be taken down to the laundry facilities and the ship crew assigned there for repairs.  
  
She turned toward him and he dropped the rest of the items on the couch and went to her,  enfolding her in his strong arms."What is it, Viama? What happened?"  
  
She let out great body wracking sobs, "the Hanar have refused. We will need to get the people to the Salarian homeworld before they can be helped. That is almost another 4 days after we try and rescue the others. Mordin warned me that the longer they are in, the more damage to them that can become permanent. If the Hanar would have just said yes they could have been being treated within hours of tomorrow's operation. Those stupid,  dumb fucking jellyfish would rather keep hiding their secrets instead of helping their client race and other rescued victims.  How can they do this?"  
  
He had no answer for her. He did the only thing he knew and held on to her. Several minutes later she pushed from his arms and wiped her face. After taking several deep breaths she started to try and fix the mess she had made. Alexius bent down to help her.  


* * *

  
  
"Commander,  the Normandy is in position. I set up to monitor the mass relay,  if anything comes though it will log the signature and look for the matching data logs I hacked from the Purgatory." Joker's voice came over the comm and she sent back an acknowledgement. Her eyes not leaving the data streaming on her monitor. The Ariki had sent her a copy of the complaint she had filed on behalf of her people. She had also sent copies to each of the government's homeworld informing them that the Hanar government had refused to offer medical aid and protection for their rescued people. The governments had already started implementing embargos against the Hanar. The Council has issued sanctions against them as well for failure to offer aid to Council races and to their own client race, as was part of the agreement when they had put forth the request hundreds of years ago.  
  
The Ariki also sent a copy of the notice that she had sent out to all the domes and to every known Drell colony,  no longer will they be presenting their male children to be given to the Compact. From now on they will be trained by the Kaito, the Drells own version of the Compact. Solely sponsored by and taught by the drell. She laughed as she read that many of the Compacted males have already returned to the main dome. One of the apparent compact agreements stated that should the Ariki call for their aid in times of great troubles they were to be released to return. She put out the call and they responded.  
  
She forwarded the information to Thane and received a response that he had already been contacted by both the Ariki and by several other Drells. Several of his Hanar handlers have also stated that he was to remain part of the Compact. He sent his respects but cited the laws, giving his resignation. If he should wish it and obtain her agreement he could be assigned permanently as her guard. "Alexius?"  
  
"Yes, Viama? What is it you wish?" Alexius finished hanging the newly mended clothing back into the cubby and came to stand near her.

"How would you like Thane to become a permanent part of our household?"

He fidgeted for a moment before asking, "may I ask in what capacity, Viama?"  
  
"Guard,  friend,  advisor and trainer. Whatever he wants to do really. He'll be able to continue your training and will be around in case you have need to talk with another Drell." She looked up at him and noticed he had his hands clenched but they slowly relaxed.  
  
"What's going on Alexius?" She watched as his shoulders tensed and he let out a breath.

"I do not know how it is with Humans, but I told you after we woke from our marital bonding, we would be married for life with no desire for another. But... I lied to you. I wanted ... I didn't want you to ... want another."  
  
"As a female of high standing you have yet to choose your consorts, Viama. As second daughter to the Ariki you can also support more than one husband. It is not unusual for the Matriarchs to have several husbands as well as consorts. I... I have come to like Thane and ... and I don't," he swallowed, "I don't think you would turn to me for satisfying your needs if you had him. He has been around Humans and understands them better. He wouldn't ... wouldn't flinch or hesitate ... like I do. He would know how to please you better." His head had dropped and he was staring at the floor as his voice got quieter and quieter. "He wouldn't have lied to you."  
  
She stood up and ran a gentle hand over his frill,  down his ribbing and across his full lips. "Alex, I have no need of consorts.  I have you." She watched him blink and draw in a shaky breath at her use of the nickname for him. She circled her hand to the back of his smooth scaled head and pulled him to her. Her lips met his cool ones and gently ground against them,  her tongue swiping along the slight dividing line in his lower lip before tugging carefully with her teeth. When his mouth opened on a small gasp she slid her tongue in deep, stroking and curling around his.  
  
Her hands slid to the fastenings of his jacket then pushed it off his shoulders and down his arms until it pooled on the floor. She led him to the bed where she carefully removed the gloves from him and opened his vest. When he reached for the fastenings of her own shirt she stopped him with a shake of her head, his brow ridges drew down in confusion.  
  
"Viama?" She placed a gentle finger on his lips to stop him from saying anything more then went back to undressing him.  
  
"Lay back on the bed, Alex." He blinked and swallowed, doing as she commanded. His nervousness coming through. "You need to relax. Just lay there and watch." She reached for buttons of her top, opening them slowly. Her hands skimmed her breasts and waist before letting the top fall to the floor. She licked her lips and saw the way his eyes followed her hands and how he gripped the bed cover in his fingers. She moved her hands over her body,  trailing her fingertips over peaked nipples and letting out a small groan. She slowly dragged the back of one hand down her abdomen to the clasps of her pants while the other traced the lace of her bra to the center and flicked the snap holding it closed.  
  
Alexius watched her every move. But he kept hearing those words over and over in his mind, _"Alex, I have no need of consorts. I have you."_ Did it mean that she would only be his? That she would really take no other? Or did it mean that she didn't want consorts but maybe a second or third husband? His place as her first would always be solid, his status in the household above the others. But what if she wanted a Human husband? Where would his place be then? His eyes flicked to hers. He noticed she had stopped and was looking at him.  
  
"I can see you aren't interested. Your mind is elsewhere or what I am doing isn't something you like." She fixed her bra and closed the snap,  bending down to pick up her shirt.

"Viama, wait. Don't stop, I'm sorry. My mind wouldn't quiet. Did you really mean it? That you didn't need another?" She glanced up him. The way he was now intently watching her, not in a sexual manner but one of hopefulness.  
  
"I meant it, Alex. In my culture,  my belief, I will only have one husband. No lovers, no consorts." She stood at the foot of the bed and watched him, saw the way his hand once again started to grip the sheets as he looked at her. She barely heard his whisper, "only me. No one else... just mine." She was unprepared when he launched himself from the bed enfolding her in his arms. She gasped and dropped the shirt she was holding to grab onto him while trying to keep her balance. "Alex?"  
  
He held her tighter. He kissed his way from her neck to her mouth. She could only blink at him,  finally closing her eyes and giving herself over to it. She heard him groan as his tongue slid between her lips, his hands started to move over her body. Finding the snap for her bra and deftly opening it before cupping her breast in the palm of his hand. She gave a moan as she felt him give a small tug on her nipple. His other hand wandered down to her hip giving it a light squeeze before sliding around to her ass lifting her up against him. He gave a startled gasp as she pushed on his chest causing him to fall backward onto the bed, she quickly stripped her pants and shoes as he moved further back on the bed, his eyes never leaving her as he laid there propped up on his elbows.  
  
She crawled toward him and quickly straddling him, their mouths coming together as she ran her hands over his cool,  smooth scales. She started to grind down against him and groaned when he flexed his hips upward. He shifted slightly, bringing his hand to the back of her head,  holding her to him as his tongue delved deeper into her mouth. He felt her sliding her moist opening along his seam and let out a groan,  tightening his hand in her hair for a moment as he started to slide up inside of her. The heat and scent from her caused his body to vibrate with a loud hum.  
  
"Viama, my body hums to bond again." He gasped as she rocked into him. He began to grow and thicken rapidly, the ridges along the side beginning to move and massage her walls. "How can this be?" He groaned as she kept rocking against him,  her own cries joining his as he started to move more forcefully inside her.  He cried out as she shifted,  leaning back on her hands, opening herself up wider to him. His hands moved over her,  causing her to moan.  
  
He gripped her hips and rotated her, sliding her along him as she had been doing earlier. "More like this, Viama. What you were doing. More." His hands tightened on her and he let out a loud moan as she moved against him, lifted slightly and rotated as she lowered herself. Her pants joining his as they started to move faster and harder against each other. His cries of "more" and her "oh, gods" echoed in the small room. A brief flash of a thought came to her, hoping that Kaidan hadn't decided to work on that faulty terminal outside her room as he seemed to have a habit of doing lately.  The thought left her as quickly as it came when his thumb flicked against her tiny bundle of nerves. She screamed as her body clamped around his, squeezing tightly around him. He hissed as he felt the bonding begin. Her gasp of pain as he pushed up further inside her at the same time the knot formed. The last thing she remembered was hearing his own shout of "mine" as she felt him throb with his own release and she collapsed on him.  


* * *

  
  
A few hours later they both started to stir,  he tightened his arms around her to keep her from moving away from him. "Viama, are you alright?" 

She rubbed her face against him and blinked, "mmhmm. More than alright, Alex. That was amazing." He let out a breath and she shifted to be able to see into his face. "Why did you ask?"  
  
He rubbed his hands along her back and blinked. "I became ... demanding. I told you to do things. It was not my place, and I didn't mean to be so rough with you. But once you said I would be your only one,  I had to have you. My body demanded it. I do not understand why. But I needed you and we bonded again. It should not have been possible to do so until your season comes upon you."  
  
She let out a sigh and wiggled a little, "you needn't be worried about your place as you call it. If there is a position you like, a movement you find enjoyable tell me,  move me like you did. Same goes for something you don't like." She ran her hand over his chest, her lip caught between her teeth, when she let it go she looked up into his eyes. "There are a few things I would like to try, . I find them most enjoyable but do not know if you would. So maybe once this is all taken care of we can spend some time together ...exploring each other's likes and whatnot." She gave him a kiss and eased herself up. "Right now though,  we need to get ready in case a ship comes through that relay." She grinned as he let out a sigh and a small moan as she ground against him before getting up. "Viama!" He gave her a slight pout and she laughed.  


* * *

  
  
While Shepard was sitting in the nav chair beside of Joker, Alexius was on the crew deck talking to Thane. "Sere Krios, Viama told me about what had been offered to you. She even asked me how I felt about you becoming a member of our house. She said "our house" not "her house." She thought it would be good to have you there." Alexius was sitting at the one of the tables across from Thane drinking something the mess sergeant had called hot chocolate while Thane had his customary tea.  
  
"She had already come to me and informed me that should I choose, I would be welcomed there. I am to think it over and let her know so she can make arrangements to have an additional floor added to her home on Kahje for me." He gave a slight laugh, "I told her I didn't need an entire floor just a small room and she yelled at me."  
  
Alexius smiled slightly then shifted a bit in his chair. "She told me I was to be her only one. No consorts. Just me." His brilliant purple eyes stared into the older drells for a moment before he noticed the twitching of Thane's lips and he dropped his eyes,  a trill of embarrassment sounded.

"That is good. Highly unusual for a female of her rank. She is most certainly unlike any of the Drell females." Thane almost laughed when he heard the sigh come from Alexius and watched him relax again. Most unusual indeed. He wondered for a moment if Alexius understood just how unusual a circumstance and how blessed he was. Only the common females had one mate or those that could only afford to provide for one. There were ones that formed a deeper bond with a male and chose to only keep him as a mate while the others were delegated to different roles in her home. For someone of her rank to proclaim him so ... had not been done in many generations.  
  
They had just finished their drinks when the warning signal went off. Joker's announcement of a matching ship signature,  notice for ground crew to gear up immediately and to report to the lower airlock came through. Everyone scrambled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Appreciate the comments and kudos for this story.
> 
> Enjoy.

* * *

 

Shepard came running into the armory, everyone was moving quickly to get ready to board the other vessel. By the time they were done and everyone was armed, Joker yelled out they were in range, the message sent and the other ship had thrown up their shield and powered up their weapons.

"Send out a disruptor take down their shields then lock on. Tali updated the VI, have it send out the virus to open their shuttle bay for us to enter before it shuts down their systems." They went running for the large shuttle, all of them were on and launched in less than two minutes.

"When we get there, Alex and Kaidan, you're with me. Thane, Andrews and Ashley second team. Ramirez and Garrus you're on Tali, keep her safe as she hacks their systems for any remaining data."

As soon as the shuttle flew into the dock it had come under fire, the crew scattered into their teams with Tali and her group heading straight for the closest terminal. Joker sent intel to all of their HUD's with the ship's layout and Tali started to call out the virus had worked to stop them from deleting large chunks of their data, she was sending it to the Normandy for decryption and storage, once she was done her team joined in the fight.

The ship wasn't particularly large, but large enough they felt the need to split up the decks, they had to get to the rooms that seemed the most likely to hold cages and they had to do it fast before the slavers thought to cut their losses and just kill the others.

"Commander, this is team Charlie, one group found. Need back up and medics." Ramirez called over the comms, Joker heard as did Doctor Chakwas, they both acknowledged and the secondary Marine squads that were on standby boarded another shuttle after the first medical team arrived. The other teams were scrambled, sent to the docks and were awaiting orders.

"Coming up on a room now. Get ready." Shepard called over her team's comm. They rounded a corner and heard gunfire and started running. As they turned the corner into the room a flash of blue white light went sailing past her head and they heard the clatter of something heavy falling. Purple biotics engulfed another of the ship crew while Shepard fired on a third. "Medical emergency, my location." Shepard called out as Alex used his weapons to carefully cut the locks off of the cages. They pulled the bodies out of the cages and separated the ones that had been shot from the ones that hadn't. Kaidan started working on the worst of the injuries while Shepard tried to calm the other children. Alex laid the casualties gently on the other side of the room.

As the teams found the rooms, a squad would move in and secure them while the medical teams worked on triaging the survivors and moving them to the cargo hold on the Normandy. Any surviving ship crew were stripped down and taken to the brig for holding and transport to the Citadel for trial as they were not in the Terminus systems. Even if they could talk their way out of slavery they couldn't talk their way out of attacking a Spectre.

It took almost an entire solar day to go room to room, rerun scans looking for heat signatures or the possible locations of hidden rooms in the ship. By the time they were done, they counted a total of 50 children under the age of 8, another 30 under 12 and 10 under the age 15. Out of those 90, less than half had survived. Shepard sent the report to the Council along with her recommendation that her people take a few days to recharge. Even the most diehard of her Marines had broken down at the sight of the tiny coffins carefully stored in one of the lower decks.

It took them four days to make it to the Salarian's lab, another day for them to get the people settled and guaranteed arrangements made that after their recovery they would be returned to each species homeworld. She sent the messages out to the Councilors, headed to the Citadel to drop off the prisoners for processing, then had Joker set a course for Earth, Vancouver, they would deliver the remains of the humans that had perished to the Alliance and have them handle the arrangements. Afterward, she planned on a day to relax before heading to the other homeworlds to bring them the news and their fallen people.

When they arrived at the docking area of the Systems Alliance Headquarters, the crew in their dress blues, along with the nonhuman crew members in their formal outfits carried the coffins of the casualties off the ship, both adult and child. The Alliance personnel also dressed in their blues, met with them and helped to place their citizens in transports. They would be taken to a holding facility until they could verify next of kin, or in some cases taken to a facility for cremation and scattering over the oceans.

Commander Shepard, flanked by Kaidan and Ashley, met with Admiral Hackett and gave a copy of the intel they had on the people. The Drell that had survived had helped, they put names to faces on many of them. Others they had no way of telling until DNA testing was done. After they were finished they boarded the Normandy and headed south.

They arrived at their destination, a port in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. Shepard reached over and hit a button on Joker's console. "Attention all crew, yes this also means Joker and our nonhuman crew as well, welcome to the Atlantic Ocean, if you look out the starboard and port side view screens you will see nothing but sunshine and vast amounts of water. Everyone, and I mean everyone, pack a bag for a day of sun, swimming, laying on a pristine beach and as much food and drink as you can handle. No excuses, Garrus, sit on the beach if you don't want to go into the water."

As the crew exited the ship, Joker and Shepard ticked their names off of a list, they loaded up into shuttles and were taken to a large island. Joker, Shepard and the nonhumans were the last off. Joker locked the systems and the entry up tight before boarding the shuttle wearing a loud hawaiian print outfit and his customary cap.

They were greeted by several people when their shuttle landed, the other crew had already scattered. Several of the local men took the Drell and Garrus into a large cabana and gave them appropriate beach wear. Shepard and Joker both snickered as they could hear Garrus yelling he didn't need it, all he needed was his armor. One of the men stuck his head out and gave a curious sounding whistle and this giant of a Human, tattooed and wearing armbands and a set of swim trunks grinned and headed toward the tent. Seconds later Alexius came tearing out of the tent followed by a swift moving Thane. Behind them came several shouts from both a Turian and a Human.

"Keelah, that Human isn't going to hurt Garrus is he?" Tali asked as she watched the sides of the cabana tent push outward in the shape of a Turian body and a bunch of loud grunts came from it.

"Nah, the big guy is a teddy bear. Don't worry about Garrus. Commander, I'm heading for the bar, see ya later." Joker snickered as he walked away.

Two of the women approached Tali and held out a garment. She asked what it was, finding out it was a local style wrap dress and they asked if they could put it on her. "I guess, just watch the cables." They smiled at her and wrapped her in the long flowing garment, then placed a wreath of local flowers on her helmet.

Several minutes later, Garrus came stumbling out after being pushed from behind by the big Human, he was wearing an outfit that closely resembled Joker's only in blue with red and white flowers. He made a beeline for Shepard, Alexius and Thane shifted closer to her, Garrus stopped in front of her and pointed a taloned finger her way. "I'll get your for this one day, Shepard." She only grinned at him. The big Human however stopped in front of Tali, "Shep, who is this lovely lady?"

"Ah, Jona meet Tali. She is from the Migrant Fleet and is helping me on my current mission. Tali, this is Jona."

She stifled a small laugh as the big man bowed to her and held out his arm in a gentlemanly fashion, "Tali, it is a pleasure meeting you. Let me escort you to the bar, we have a variety of foods and drinks that are dextro safe." The Quarian looked at him then at Shepard who gave her a grin. She placed her covered hand on his huge forearm and he gently led her to the bar, talking the entire time.

"Okay, the rest of you let's go have some fun."

Shepard showed Alexius how to use a snorkel and they swam in the ocean, she pointed out several of the brightly colored fish and coral reefs that the small island was surrounded with. Thane on the other hand spent much of his time speaking with the natives, learning about the local flora and customs. Garrus stayed as far from the water as he could get, finding a spot on the sand and letting out a sigh as the heat radiated up from it. Several of the local ladies brought him several drinks, stopping to flirt with him a bit before moving on.

As the sun started to set, the natives lit the torches around the area, calling the crew to gather in a circle around the center where they had set out long tables full of food, a smaller one was off to the side with blue covered dishes and was strictly for Garrus and Tali. When their plates were filled they moved to sit and watch the show. Several of the men started to beat on drums as others started dancing in the center, dipping and swirling, pounding their feet into the sand. Shepard leaned into Alexius and explained what it was they were watching. More dancers appeared, men and women dancing rhythmically to the beat of the drums and cries from the drummers. Jona appeared in the center, flaming torches held in each hand and started to dance, throwing them into the air and catching them. The members who had never been here before all gasped as he used alcohol to shoot flames into the air from the torches.

After the show Shepard told them it was time to head back, they had work to do, a bunch of groans met her ears and she just clapped her hands. Alexius and Thane joined her as she spoke to several of the native men and women, thanking them for putting this together for her so quickly. "Oh don't worry, Shep. Hopefully we will see you and Joker next year? It's about time for you guys to start the yearly family trip again don't you think?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, Jona. Between him losing his Mother, and my bastard of a Father showing back up again. Now that I have a husband and other people to take care of I may not be able to come as often as I wish." He grunted and looked over the two Drell. "Well, you are always welcome, and bring them along if you want. It may be a good experience for them."

"Maybe." She met Joker at the dock and started loading people on, he was on the first shuttle and handled the checks as they boarded, all of them looking far more relaxed and recharged then they had been. After making sure they didn't leave anyone behind she made the announcement that they were heading for Thessia then Kahje. Hopefully by then the intel that they had got from the ship would be fully decrypted and they would have more information to work with.

When they arrived on Thessia they proceeded to carefully bring out the coffins and Shepard handed the datapad to the Matriarch that had met them at the dock, she spent several minutes explaining to her that they were still looking for the leaders of this slaving ring and were committed to finding them. Then handed her a detailed listing of the ones that were being treated at the salarian base and contact information for the doctors in charge. The Matriarch told her that she would keep searching for information as well and if she found any would send it her way, she thanked Shepard and her crew before turning and moving to the head of the line of shuttles.

When they arrived on Kahje she was met by her Drell Mother, Alexius stood between Shepard and his own Mother as they watched them move coffin after coffin from the hold. Their people were so low in numbers as it was and now so many were dead, all males and small children. "Come children, let us go and talk while they handle the burial rites for them." They were joined by Thane, who kept a respectful distance behind Shepard as her and Alexius' guard, when they arrived at the Matriarch's home Shepard asked him to go to her own home and inform the staff they would be staying the night and to make the rooms available. She also wanted an update on the expansions that she had asked for.

When Shepard had settled on the chair and Alexius was on a small one nearby the Matriarchs asked her for details. She gave them what she could and let them know she was looking for more information on the group, along with still trying to find out about this mine that they have been sending people to, especially the Drell. She hoped that the rest of the intel she had would be finished as all she had so far were general coordinates, times and what seemed to be strange names or codes by which these people went by. She also told them that the Blue Suns mercenary group was heavily involved.

The older Matriarch leaned back in her chair, "hmm, from what my own sources have told me, the Blue Suns had went from almost all Humans and Turians to containing Batarians who seem to be holding higher ranks within their ... organization. I will have a few people send out feelers to see what mines are heavily invested in by them, maybe that will give you a clue, especially if they happen to be new and producing a vast quantity of ore lately."

They spoke some more then Thane returned with the news she had requested, he told her they were preparing the home now for her arrival.

After they arrived at her home, Thane went up to his own floor, still shaking his head at having the entire level to himself, and the others showed her and Alexius around. Noting the changes that were made and seeing the young boy now smiling and looking much healthier and happier than he had before they left. She transferred more funds in case they needed it then they settled down for dinner. About halfway through her omni tool gave an unfamiliar ring and she frowned. Alexius grew worried at the snarl she let out when she accessed the caller ID and hit denied. The tool gave out several more rings then quieted.

She laid panting beside of Alexius after he grinned and sighed before shifting to his side of the bed, a lingering kiss between them before they settled under the covers. Once again her omni tool gave a ring. She beat her fist against the mattress then got up, slipping a robe on before heading out to the balcony. Alexius wasn't too far behind her but stopped to lean against the doorframe as she answered the call.

"Why do I have the displeasure of a late night call from you, Father?" Her voice was strained and she gripped the railing with one hand. She didn't notice Thane had joined Alexius at the doorway, the VI had notified him of a door opening and had slipped downstairs to find out if everything was alright, they were both out of sight from the caller.

"Don't you talk to your Father that way, girl. You show me respect, you hear me? I happened to be at the Citadel when the news of you rescuing those Humans came on the newscast. After making sure that everyone in the bar knew that I was your Father and accepting their congratulations on a good job, I decided to call you to get some of the reward credits that job must have earned you. After all you should be making sure your Father is taken care of."

Thane straightened and looked toward Alexius, his purple eyes caught the artificial moonlight from under the dome. "I am a Spectre, and there was no reward for rescuing any of the people, that is part of the job. The leaders of the various races have promised me intel that's it, no credits, no goods or services. There is nothing for you, not now and not ever." She hissed at him.

"That's where you're wrong, girl. You get your worthless ass back there and talk to them people, you tell them you have family to take care of and you need them to pay you for each of those Humans and things you rescued." The man's voice had risen and Thane stiffened, both of them taking several steps toward her.

"My family is right here with me."

"What, that cripple that your aunt produced?" They could all hear the sneer in his voice and it made Shepard stiffen.

"Don't you talk about Jeff like that. And he's not my only family, I have a real one now. People who really care for me and want nothing from me but to be happy."

The man on the other end started laughing, "girl, everyone wants something. Whether it's credits and shit they can talk you into buying for them or just using you for a lay, you're just to stupid to understand that."

Alexius had heard enough, he went up behind her and wrapped her in his arms, "you are wrong. Viama has friends, she has family and people that truly love her."

"What the hell is that thing doing hanging on you, girl. Get away from it."

Shepard's face lit up and Thane grinned as he too joined her, standing beside her. "Oh, I guess I forgot to introduce you. Father, this is Alexius Shepard, he is my husband." She slid her hand over his face and down his bare chest, "and the other Drell beside me is Thane, he is my trained bodyguard - slash - master assassin. They are my real family, along with several sisters and a wonderful Mother and Mother-in-Law, and I couldn't be happier." Alexius took that moment to nuzzle her.

This time it was her turn to laugh at the expression on the man's face as she disconnected the call.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. Thanks for all the kudos, comments and for sticking with the story.

* * *

 

 The next morning they all gathered together and went over the intel that Tali had been able to pull from the slaver's ship.

"Most of it had been corrupted, we figured it would happen once they knew we were going to board. But this is what I found so far, there was bits and pieces relating to the Minos Wastelands. Nothing specific I could come up with, but it's a start. There were mentions of shutting down a Blue Suns operation because they would be a security risk with the intel they had. So we are now certain of their involvement. There was also information on the Normandy and the people that are on here, at least some of them anyway. That's about it. We need to find someone with intel on the Blue Suns interests in the Wasteland and go from there."

Shepard crossed her arms, "alright. We'll spend the day here and first thing in the morning head for the Citadel, I'll check in with an information broker that Councilor Anderson knows and see if he can dig us up some intel. Garrus, you and Tali restock your food supplies and have Doctor Chakwas restock your vitamins and medications."

 

* * *

 

Alexius spent the day telling his Mother all about the Normandy and what he had seen and done. He gave her a smile when he told her that his Viama has claimed him as her only mate. His Mother gasped then touched his face. "I am happy for you my son. You have been given a great honor, you have made me proud."

He dipped his head, "it was a good match, Mother. I thank you from the bottom of my heart that you shown me such love and kindness."

"Ahh, my dear boy, I have always wanted the best for all of my children. Now tell me more of the people on board the Normandy, and you have truly seen the sun shining on your Viama's world?"

He gave her a grin and launched into the tale of their day spent on the island and the invitation the people that lived there had extended to Shepard and her family.

Thane was at the Kaito speaking with several of the other Drells and touring the large facility they had. They renovated a warehouse and it was quite suitable for their specialized and weapon training needs. The children would be attending a small school outside of the Kaito for their cultural and educational learning.

They headed straight for the Citadel when they left the next morning, Mordin had sent them a message updating the status on the people that had been rescued, several would need care for the rest of their lives as their prognosis wasn't good, but many more would suffer little to no permanent damage.

Shepard stopped in to the Council towers and as she spoke to them Alexius stood in awe at everything around him. To his limited knowledge, he was probably one of the only males of his kind to actually step foot inside the chamber. Thane was slightly behind him, guarding him from unwanted attention, as he brought his focus back from the ever blooming trees and mass of different people milling around the area, to his Viama.

She was standing on a podium and the four Councilors were standing on another a short distance away and slightly above her. She sent them the update from Mordin, the bits and pieces of the files that her team were able to recover and ask if the Council could help provide intel for any mining operations that seemed to have started up recently or had a very large increase in productivity.

Tevos looked down at her as Sparatus keyed in some information in the terminal in front of him. "If this mining operation is working legally and within Council space, yes. We can not provide information outside of the Citadel controlled area. We can however see if a company has had an increase of shipping ores through the Citadel exchange and registered ports. It may help to narrow it down somewhat."

The turian Councilor looked up, "as soon as the information is compiled we will send it."

Shepard knew a dismissal when she heard it and gave the Councilors a slight bow then turned, walking down the steps back to where Alexius and Thane were waiting for her. "Alright, let's head back for a quick debrief. It looks like we may be here for a while, the appointment with the information broker isn't for several more hours yet and we have to wait to see if the Council is going to be forthcoming in any intel."

They started walking toward the lifts, "Viama? I have a request."

"What is it Alex?" She jammed her finger on the holo button several times as she called for the lift, knowing full well that it never made it go any faster.

"I would like to see this Citadel. Other than the Matriarch's guards and Pashi, I am the only Suinima, the only son of a Matriarch, that has set foot here. I think... I was the only male to even see the Council area. I would like to view more, to be able to tell my Mother. She hasn't been here. She rarely leaves Kahje, only to go to Nos Astra once or twice a year."

She looked up at him, "alright, I have to go back to the ship though. There are some things you must promise. You must stay right next to Thane at all times, he knows the Citadel and how to interact with these people. You will listen to all he tells you and if he tells you to return to the ship, you do it immediately." She activated her omni tool and sent something to Thane since his pinged right afterward.

"This is a temporary code for the spending account. If you see something you wish to buy, within reason, just tell Thane. If he tells you it isn't a wise choice please listen to him. Not every shopkeeper here is honest. If you need me for anything just call me on the omni tool."

They stepped off the elevator into the lobby of the tower and she pulled them to the side, in a low voice that wouldn't carry, "you are both armed, correct?"

At their nods she let out a slight sigh, "alright. You both have the emergency protocol in your tools. If there is trouble, activate them. It will send a signal to the crew and we will hurry toward you. It will also signal that you are both under the protection of a Spectre, as part of the crew. It provides you limited status here. As long as you don't go shooting anyone that hasn't shot at you first, you'll be alright." She stood on her toes and kissed Alexius briefly on his frill ridge. "Have fun. Thane, you take care of him for me."

"Of course, Siha. I will protect him with my life." He bowed to her and she noticed that Alexius had snapped his head around and was staring at Thane.

"Siha?"

"I shall explain at another time, Shepard." Thane looked down at the floor not quite meeting Alexius' eyes.

"Okay. I'll see you both later. Try and stay out of trouble." Shepard turned from them and jogged out the door.

Alexius continued to stare at Thane, who silently waited to hear what the younger Drell would say about the term of endearment he had used.

"Why?" Alexius asked quietly as he started for the door, not as keen on seeing the Citadel as he had been.

"I - she is a Siha. She is a warrior angel for our people. I did not mean for it to be said aloud. I meant no disrespect."

Alexius stopped in front of one of the statues on the Presidium. "I know you wouldn't disrespect her. But she has already claimed me as her only mate. You know this. Do - Do you wish to share her bed? Do you intend to petition for Pashi status?" His hands had clenched and his subvocals had let out a small trill before he could bring them under control.

"No. I will not. I will be content to be near her as guard to her and to you." Thane stood near Alexius with his hands behind his back waiting for him to adjust to what he had just said.

"What will you tell her when she asks about you calling her a Siha?" Alexius moved further down the pathway, stopping in front of a shop that was run by a Hanar.

"I will tell her the truth. That it is a term of deep respect, for she has proven herself to be the epitome of a warrior angel to our people. She need not know it is a term of affection and endearment as well. The explanation I will give to her will satisfy her and nothing will have changed in the household dynamic."

Alexius bent over one of the display cases not really seeing what was inside. It was true that his Viama was a Siha. She had said he would be the only one. She seemed to be absolute in that pronouncement. But this was Thane... someone she knew and respected. He moved to a different case. No... said she would only have him. She wouldn't go back on her word. He was hers and she was only his. Thane's feelings for her wouldn't change that, he said he would not ask for a change in status and he had to believe him. "Alright. She is my Viama ... but she can be your, Siha."

Thane gave him a slight bow and they exited the store working their way down to the market district and where Thane had told him there were several locations that tourists liked to stop and look. "Come, there is something that I wish to share with you. I discovered this treat when I was here on contract to locate our people before I encountered Shepard. I believe you will enjoy it. It is my gift to you for your consideration and understanding."

They entered a small store near where a large community of Humans ran shops.

The older female blinked at them, "welcome to Old Fashioned Creamery. How can I help you?"

"Good afternoon, I was here previously and had a wonderful sample of your product. It was called chocolate chip ice cream. I would like to place an order for a single serving of that, plus a sample of another popular flavor for my employer." Thane graciously said after giving the elderly lady a slight bow.

"Oh, well, in that case we have two that he may like. One is called mint chocolate chip, it contains the same chocolate pieces as the one you requested but instead of plain vanilla ice cream it has a cool minty flavor that comes from an herb grown on Earth. The other is called strawberry and is made with the Earth fruit mixed with the regular ice cream. They are both very popular right now."

"I see. Would it be possible to let him have a sample of each before he decides?"

"Of course. Just give me a moment." The woman took out a strange silver object and ran it under a sterilizer before opening the back of the display case and letting a blast of very cold air out. She picked up a small cup and used the object to scoop something from inside a large tub, placing it in the cup. Alexius had moved closer to watch her. She went back and took a bit more of it out and patted it into place on what was already there before handing it to Thane.

"Now dear, this green one is the mint chocolate chip." She picked up a tiny cup and pulled out a different object, sterilized it, then took out a bit and dumped it in the cup.

She handed it to Alexius, "oh, it's so cold."

She gave him a smile and let out a small laugh, "yes deary, it has to be cold or it melts. Now this red and pink one is the strawberry." She handed him another tiny cup before moving down near the register. She rang up the total and Thane swiped his omni tool before handing Alexius a small spoon and taking one for himself.

"Sit, Alexius and taste the treat. It is quite cold so do not take too much at one time."

Alexius watched Thane try his own treat then copied him to scoop a small amount. He gave it a small sniff before placing it on his tongue. "Gods, that is still so cold." Thane grinned at him. Alexius said he preferred the strawberry when asked. Thane nodded his head then got up to buy a small scoop of it for him.

"I wonder if Viama knows of this treat and shop." He asked as he started taking tiny bites of the ice cream.

"Well, she is Human so I have no doubt she knows of the treat. But as far as knowing about the shop we would have to ask her."

"Hmm, maybe we can bring her here. I would like to give her a gift. She has given me everything."

Thane gave him a slight smile, "when you are finished let us go to the shops. Perhaps there are a few things there you would like to purchase for her."

 

* * *

  
"That's about it folks. The Council will only give intel on operations that are conducted inside their controlled space or if the bastards are using the ports around here." She leaned against the railing as she spoke to the rest of her ground crew.

"So, in other words, Skipper, we're still flying blind with no real support or intel." Ash said from the chair she was sitting on.

"Pretty much. I have a meeting later, hopefully the information won't cost too much as we are also on limited means here. Just what we can scrape up and make from selling the crap we find. Tali keep working on that data, go over it again. For now take a three hour shore leave then report back to the ship, leave your tools on and have the security protocols set. Dismissed."

 

* * *

 

She was working in her room when Thane and Alexius returned. They were carrying several small packages, after they put them on the couch, Thane bowed to them both before walking back out.

"It looks like you found a few things. Did you get to see some of the nicer spots?"

Alexius walked over to her and kissed her then pulled her from the chair. "Alex?"

He started kissing her again and his hands seemed to be everywhere. By the time he came up for air he had already undid all the buttons on her uniform, had the shirt pushed from her shoulders and the bra unsnapped. His mouth fastened on the nape of her neck as he quickly removed his jacket and vest.

"Alex? What is going on?"

"I need you, Viama. I need to feel your hands on me. I need to feel you surrounding me. I - I...", he took a step back shaking his head and rubbing his forehead. "I don't know... I am sorry. I beg your forgiveness, Viama."

"Is everything alright? You don't need to apologize. A little bit of warning that you are going to strip me naked in the middle of the day would be nice though, and making sure the door was locked first." She gave a little laugh before locking it with her omni tool. "Now, come here and tell me what is wrong."

"I - I... Viama, I just need you." His voice was gravelly and held a bit of pain.

She looked at him knowing there was more to it but unless he told her what it was there wasn't more she could do. She dropped her bra to the floor and sat to unlace her boots before taking them off and sliding the rest of her clothes down her legs. She stood and ran her hands over him, a low trill sounded from him and his body trembled before she began to undo the closures on his pants.

"We have two hours before I need to leave to see the broker. I can't think of anything better than spending it with you."

He let out another trill and cupped her face in his hands before kissing her and turning her to lay her on the bed. He needed her, he needed to hear her say she was only his. He felt like a coward not being able to tell her why. He had almost lost her once to a misunderstanding, he wasn't going to take the chance on losing her because he questioned her word. He stood up and finished stripping his clothes before laying at her side. His hands once more busy, he reveled in the ability to touch, to kiss and hold her whenever they were in their own room. The few kisses they shared or the way she touched him outside of their quarter thrilled him.

Before long she was moaning quietly and he shifted to bring her to straddle him. "Please, Viama. Like this." His eyes drifted closed as he felt her body moving on his, when he felt her hands moving on his chest he let out a groan and pressed upward, his body changing and releasing to enter hers. He hissed as he heard her gasp out his name, his eyes opened to mere slits as he started to move inside her. His hands stroking her thighs and waist, moving to her breasts as his cock thrust and rubbed, moving against her walls and that rough, spongy area that always caused her to shudder in pleasure.

Her eyes were closed and her head was tipped back as she rotated on him, her hands clutching at his thighs. She groaned and hissed out, "harder, Alex."

He grunted and dug his heels into the bed, moving his hands back down to her waist and his fingers gripped her ass, grinding her down harder against him. "Viama, kiss me."

She leaned down, placing her hands on the bed next to his shoulders before finding his lips with her own. His mouth was hungry and his kiss was bruising in its intensity. His tongue pushed past her lips and thrust inside, rubbing and sliding against her own. He held her down on him then rolled, her hands moved to clutch at his shoulders and scrape along his back as he groaned. His mouth fastening on her breast. His tongue licking and swirling before sucking on her nipple.

She cried out and he hissed as he continued his relentless pace, her body clamping around his as she reached her orgasm.

He took her mouth again, his own body was rushing toward release and he beat it back, wanting more. He clutched the bedsheets in one hand, hissing because he couldn't stop his orgasm any longer. He gasped as his body shook and spilled deep inside her. His head dropped to her shoulder and he shakily whispered, "tell me again. Say that I will be your only one."

She wrapped her arms about him and held his shaking body tight against hers, "you shall be my only husband, my only mate, my only Suinima."

She felt his gasp as he raised his head and pressed his forehead against hers, "Viama... I am not sure, but I think... I think I have fallen in love with you." His whisper was barely audible in the room and his purple eyes held hers, a tear fell from his eye and splashed on her cheek mixing with her own tears as she once more pulled him down for a gentle kiss.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I haven't died...broken my hands... thrown my keyboard out the window (yet). Just have this huge block with these stories. I am continuing to work on them. Just several other stories have pretty much kept my attention on writing them no matter how often I open these up to work on them.

* * *

 

 

Shepard sat in a chair across from the information broker, her hands casually linked and propped on her leg as she waited to find out how much the information she requested was going to cost them.

The broker's pressurized suit let out a hiss as he looked away from the terminal. "Spectre, we can offer you a portion of the information you have requested at this time. It will take a while longer to acquire the rest. The information you provided will be taken into consideration for a discount on the full report, or we can offer you credits for it at this time. It is the way we work so our clients do not pay for information they already have. Our reputation is on the line with jobs of this size and delicacy."

"How long are we talking about? Many lives are on the line here and every passing hour could cost even more."

"I can't say at this time." The Volus' suit let out another hiss as it adjusted the pressure.

Shepard tapped a finger against her knee, "can you supply us with the listing of Blue Suns interests in the Minos Wastelands, at least? The credits from the intel I gave can be applied to that."

The Volus turned back to his terminal and typed in a message, a moment later a reply came back.

"That intel can be supplied to you at this time. With the trade being even."

"Done."

The broker slid a datapad across the table to her after downloading the intel on it and sending a message. "We will be in contact with you when the rest of the intel becomes available. I will detail the price of business at that time."

Shepard sent a crew wide alert to return to the Normandy, they would be leaving for the Wastelands in four hours.

 

* * *

 

"Alright, Tali, let's hear what you got. The intel that I got from the broker didn't come cheap, they traded that for every scrap of intel we could give them. We need something to pin this down a bit better." Shepard sat in a chair in the debriefing room while the others sat wherever they could find a space or seat.

"I took the intel you brought and checked it against what we had and the ...help, if you could call it that, which was provided by the Council. Seeing as how they are using slave labor and have broken more laws than I can even count, I doubt they would be using legal means to ship out the ore. At least the intel from the Council helped removed the legal mines. Which leaves us with these mines that I have marked on the map. All but one is owned by a corporation that is either a Blue Suns front or backed by them, according to the data purchased from the Broker. All except this one here," a small inset moved to the side and showed Aequitas, "it is Alliance owned but listed as abandoned due to unsolved illness incidents. According to the documents they had to file, all of their workers would become ill, delusional and sometimes aggressive. Tests were run, both atmospheric and land based looking for any toxins or contaminants that could cause this. None were ever found. The Alliance abandoned the mine and had it registered as extremely dangerous. I left that one because the report was years ago and according to documents, no one has been back since. The rest is all unknown territory."

"Kaidan, contact Systems Alliance, request the information for that mine. Tell them it is Spectre business and we need it, we need all of it. Not just what they bothered to put in the file. I want to rule it out as a possible. I'm not comfortable sending my crew down there without having more intel on what these "mysterious illnesses" were caused by and my nose tells me they left something out of the original report."

"Right away, Commander."

"In the meantime, Joker, plot a course that will take us to the first operation on Tali's list. I'll be down in the workout room."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

 

* * *

 

She was using the boxing bag when the ping of the lift sounded and she looked up. Thane walked off and headed for one of the treadmills. She grabbed up a water bottle and towel and went to use the one beside him.

He didn't even turn his head her way when she started jogging, "Siha."

"You know, you still haven't told me exactly what that is." Her pace was even with his, the thump of their feet hitting the surface of the machine was in almost perfect sync.

He didn't say anything at first, "it is an old term, from before our people fled Rakhana."

Several minutes of running passed before she panted a bit, breathing a bit heavy through her nose as she was a bit tired from the previous exercise, "and... that tells me nothing."

She saw his lips give a twitch as he held the smile back, he reached for the panel and set the cool down for his run, raising a brow ridge as he heard her huff at him when he finished and headed for the workout mat. She wiped her face and arms with the towel before draping it around her neck and following him. "I'm not giving up that easily." She grinned at him and began a slow stretching routine to help her muscles stay warm and not cramp up as she regained her breath.

Almost thirty minutes passed before she tried again, "so, about this Siha thing..."

He let out a laugh and smiled at her, "come, let us spar, if you pin me I will tell you what a Siha is, Shepard. If you can not then you will just have to wait."

"Sounds like a challenge, Krios, you must be sure of winning against me. I'm not too shabby at sparring you know."

They prepared themselves, grabbing a disposable mouth guard from the dispenser and met in the center of the mats.

 

* * *

 

Joker glanced over at the purple Drell that was sitting in the chair next to him, a very low growl was heard coming from him and he had a death grip on the seat's arm rests. His orchid eyes were glued to the monitor in front of him where he saw Thane and Shepard using their species forms of mixed martial arts to spar. Each time Thane had his arms around the Commander or she wrapped her legs around the other Drell, trying to flip him or get him off balance a loud hum and growl filled the bridge.

"Easy, Alexius, it doesn't mean anything, they are just sparring down there. Don't worry about it, nothing is going on with them two. Mari isn't like that, you know. She won't mess around on you because she doesn't believe in screwing around outside of marriage. She saw what it had done to Aunt Jasmine. She won't do that to you."

Alexius glanced over at the pilot, "you are not Drell. You do not understand. She is the daughter of the Ariki. Her position entitles her to ... others. She has said she wouldn't, promised me. My mind can hear the words, my heart watches them together and aches."

Joker let out a sigh and adjusted his seat a little, "Alexius, she's not Drell either. I'm telling you, there is nothing to worry about. Even if there is ... uh, an attraction between them. Absolutely nothing will come of it. I've known Mari since we were kids, she can't stand adultery. She saw it crush her Mom's heart, saw it slowly tearing her apart. She wouldn't do that to you. So chill, relax, and watch her kick his ass."

Alexius looked at him then turned his attention back to the view screen to watch.

 

* * *

 

"Commander, ETA to the first mine is in two hours. Not picking up any unusual comm chatter or space traffic."

"Copy that, Joker. Notify Alex and Garrus to meet me down in the shuttle bay. Any news from other sources? We need to narrow this down a bit if possible."

"Negative on that, Commander. The LT has been on the comm most of the day getting the run around from HQ. Just a heads up, you may have to step in and kick some ass and apply Spectre pressure, his playing nice isn't getting us anywhere."

"Understood, Shepard out."

 

* * *

 

"This is the SSV Normandy on Council business, Spectre Shepard and a party of two are requesting your cooperation with an investigation. We expect access to your facility for observation, data access for personnel and shipment records. Should you refuse you will be met with force. Respond." There was no answer.

"Joker, block their comms."

The shuttle landed on the docking station and several Marines got out, their weapons drawn as Shepard and the other two exited. "Ramirez, stay in contact, you and Andrews keep your eyes and ears open."

"Yes, ma'am."

The group moved through the small mining station, several of the mercs had dug in and were attempting to keep the group from the main operations center. It didn't matter as Tali had already hacked their system with the help of the ship's VI and locked the others out while she datamined.

Several mechs started to attack and Alex threw the Lumoi, the small lasers cutting through the metal bodies with ease, his wrists glowing where the implants were controlling the devices.

Shepard let the way through until they finally reached the center. They took out the ones inside, Tali sent a message through that she had a copy of their databanks and while Alex kept watch, she and Garrus went through each datapad every scrap of intel or drawer that was in the room. Nothing but personal trash and redundant material was on them. Shepard sent through the warning as Garrus placed the detonation devices on the server centers. They rushed back to the shuttles and after getting the all clear they blew the operation apart.

They were standing in the armory area removing their armors when Tali sent through a comm that told her there was some encrypted data retrieved, she would get to work on it immediately.

"You did well out there Alex, are you alright?" Shepard slipped on her sweats as Alex put his weapons in their case and put it in the locker.

"I am doing well, Viama. It was a bit more excitement than the training."

Shepard let out a small chuckle, "yeah. Let's just hope we can get the information soon. There has to be a record of it at one of these places, or if we make a large enough dent in them, we can get someone to talk."

 

* * *

 

"Commander, we got a report from the one representative of the Asari Republics, she sent some intel they had intercepted. Sending the report to your personal terminal."

"Thanks, Joker. Any intel from Systems Alliance or the Drell Conclave?"

Shepard sat at her desk after receiving a negative from the pilot.

"What does it say, Viama? Do they know who took my people?" Alex said from where he was pulling fresh clothing from the storage unit.

"Not really, just mainly they were sending out a warning that a Spectre was on the hunt and they needed to tighten security. They would stop taking Asari for now in the hopes it will appease the Council, since it wasn't until one of their contracted people were stupid enough to kidnap one of them from the Citadel that it was brought to the Spectres." She let out a snort, "as if that would stop me from finishing my mission."

"Commander, ETA for the next site is in 3 hours."

"Copy that Joker."

"Showers are going to have to wait, Alex. Just let that stuff lay on the bed." Alex placed everything neatly on the bed at her request.

"Ground crew assemble in the debrief room for the next assignment details, Shepard out."

 

* * *

  
Shepard hovered over Alenko's shoulder as he played nice with someone in Systems Alliance who sounded like he was nothing more than a teenager. Shepard moved Alenko out of the way when she had enough, "Sergeant Monroe, this is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, Council Spectre. I am giving you one last chance to turn over the full records of the mining incidents on Aequitas before I not only report to the Council that one of their races is withholding intel on a Council requested investigation, but will rain down hell on my own people. I will come to Vancouver where I will begin ripping the place apart and digging into every detail of every person at that facility until I know each and every dirty secret, until I know what you had for breakfast and your favorite brand of toothpaste and toilet paper. From there I will go to the Alliance base in Providence, Rhode Island where I will continue to rip apart and delve into the every piece of data, into every nook and cranny of every person there until I move on to the base in London, England where I will continue. If I still haven't been given my intel I will head to Arcturus, and the Gods help them when I get get there, because they will have one very pissed off Council Spectre to deal with and I will not be nice about it. Pass that onto your higher ups, I expect that intel to be in my hands by the time I have finished at my current location. That gives you approximately 2 hours. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am I will pass on the uh... strongly suggested compliance request along with the ... additional information that you provided. Sergeant Monroe out."

 

* * *

 

The next place was similar to the first, no answer from their comm request. The databank was mined and all the work seemed to be done by mechs. When they got back to the ship Joker told them that an encrypted file had been received and forwarded to her private terminal.

Shepard was standing under the needle spray of the shower, her head down and letting the spray beat on the back of her neck and shoulders. She jumped when she felt hands on her.

"Alex, what have I told you about this? You can't be in this stall with me, not onboard."

"But, Viama there is no one else here right now and this is my duty. Try and relax, please let me do this for you." His hands began rubbing and kneading against the tense muscles of her neck, shoulders and back.

Shepard let out a groan as he found a knotted area and worked on it until it loosened. She felt his lips sliding along her shoulder and nibbling along her neck. She let out a gasp as his hand circled around her waist and his fused fingers started to caress her center.

"You need to stop Alex, someone could walk in."

His finger plunged into her and she let out a moan just as the door slid open.

"Oh, beg your pardon." Thane's voice came from behind them as he walked past them heading for the shower furthest down. Shepard scrambled to pull Alex's hand from her and he gripped her tighter, his finger pulling out slightly then plunging back inside.

She glanced over her shoulder and met his orchid eyes as he flicked across her clit and she let out a hiss. Her eyes moving over his then turning toward Thane who was in the last stall his head down and his eyes pressed into his forearm for a moment before he began washing. She heard Alex hiss in her ear, "mine, not his."


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter 15 for edited version. Hopefully it is better.

Reworked the chapter and added it as chapter 15 so none of the original comments would be removed. I don't like deleting comments, it feels like I would be monitoring them just to include the good ones.

Anyway hope that the chapter clears up confusion. i tried my best. It makes sense to me but my mind is a bit weird anyhow.

"Press next Chapter" to read it :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hopefully this one is better.
> 
> "The list" refers to the list made by Tali in Chapter 13, the ones that were either listed as Blue Suns holdings or were backed by them.
> 
> If there are still more questions or something just doesn't add up let me know. I'll work on trying to get this last chapter feeling more complete.

* * *

 

 

Shepard sat at her desk and loaded up the encrypted file that had been sent by the Alliance, entered in her N7 credentials then overrode the warning with her Spectre authority. Once that was done she used the encryption key code that was sent to her, then started reading.

"Official Report: Top Secret Level 3 Authority  
RE: Aequitas

As per your instructions, teams were sent to investigate the reported conditions to the Alliance staff members assigned in the mining expedition on Aequitas. Reports had included the following:

Severe headaches.  
Changes in mental capacity.  
Changes in emotional temperament to include the following: severe depression leading to suicide. Extreme rage with no discernable cause. Mental breakdown, the hearing of noises, hums and whispers reported by several members. Cause not found.  
Reports of so called "visions" of death, fire and surgical alterations.  
Reports of healthy individuals suddenly becoming comatose. Other members exhibiting behavior described by eyewitnesses as "zombie-like".

Reports from various surviving team members also include other issues such as repetitive behaviors. The utterance of a particular phrase, language unknown, by several workers. The further the affected ones were removed from the planet the worse it became. The utterances became screams until finally the workers died.

Teams were assigned specific duties. Reports were not shared and all intel was classified and not to be shared so the findings were not contaminated by other's accounts. See reports attached for the findings.

Attachment -A1:

Official Report: Top Secret Level 3 Authority  
"RE: Aequitas - Environmental Report

Attached find the listing of the test of samples collected from the air, water, soil from the surface and from the deepest part of the opened mining facility. Reports show no contaminates found in any of the samples that would cause the conditions that were reported. Conditions of workers not caused by detectable poison, air or water quality. Soil shows high concentrations of unrefined iridium which is consistent with the mining operation of said substance.

Attachment -A2

Official Report: Top Secret Level 3 Authority  
RE: Aequitas - Medical Findings

Medical reports are consistent with the notification sent to this office prior to the evacuation of the workers from the mining colony. Samples of workers indicate no foreign matter, no contaminates in blood or tissue samples. No scans returned reports of cognitive altering drugs. Brain scans do, however, show increased activity in several areas, decreases in others. The studies of these patterns suggest something similar to a mass hypnosis or mass suggestion that was not achieved through the means of drugs, but constant, repetitive exposure to the suggestion.

Recommendation: continued testing and observation of subjects.

Attachment -A3

Official Report: Top Secret Level 3 Authority  
RE: Aequitas - Security log

Data encryption of the security log is intact. No outside attempts at accessing or changing log found. No anomalies in the recordings. Data logs show normal activity until they reached the mining of the current level. High concentration of iridium was located and logged. Authorization for expanded operations was requested and granted. Within days of the finding, reports of incidents between staff members began. Increased medical visits, hostility, forgetfulness, see full report from medical log for details.

Reports of incidents increased over the next two months. Crews changed multiple times. Logs show well above average deaths and accidents.

Data log: 4.10.2178 CE

Logs from this day show reports of finding an artifact. Holographic evidence was sent to Systems Alliance facility.

First known report of medical concern 4.13.2178 CE. Death of worker. Eyewitness reports state the deceased had disregarded regulations and approached the artifact. Reports state the person had physical contact with the artifact. Worker "screamed in sudden pain and jerked like a fish on a hook", according to one eyewitness. Worker then collapsed suddenly, pronounced deceased.

Teams arrive 4.30.2178 CE to examine said artifact.

5.2.2178 CE reports of aggression toward Systems Alliance investigators. Marines sent in to safeguard the team. Trained Marines overrun and were killed by workers using mining equipment. Video logs attached. Audio records shows group repeating the same phrase, unknown language. Video logs show aggression began when the team notified them that the artifact was being removed from site.

Attachment -A4: Top Secret Level 3 Authority

RE: Official Response of Incidents Labeled Aequitas.

Recommendation: Immediate removal of remaining staff from planet. Closure of facility and reports of "Unsafe Conditions leading to health related issues" to the Council and logged as Closed Permanently, not for sale.

Artifact left on planet. Measures for safe removal and storage are under ongoing review. Highly recommend mechanical security at location, unsafe for organics. Minimal contact for repair and replacement of mechs and collection of security logs only. Recommend no more than two hours and personnel rotation to limit exposure to artifact.

 

* * *

 

Shepard leaned back in her desk chair and watched with horrid fascination to the data vid logs that were included. She chewed her lip and added notations on her own log file of the planet. Though it seemed unlikely anyone would be there if there were mechs and no reports were included about trespassers. It was unlikely, but just in case though, a full disclosure debrief was needed before they even attempted to land there. Her crew would need to know what they would be facing. In the meantime they would go to the other places that Tali had pinpointed as possibles.

"Joker set course for the next location on Tali's list. Send a note to the Broker, ask them to limit their findings to Aequitas and get back to us. We're looking for something from outside sources."

"Aye, Commander"

She had just shut down the monitor when Alex came through the door and she swiveled her chair around to look at him.

"Alex, we need to talk about what you did earlier."

He nodded then sat on the couch in front of her, "I am sorry, Viama, but he had to know, and... and I was jealous."

"What do you have to be jealous about? You're my husband, we have been over this a couple of times now, Alex."

"I know. I know, Viama. But when I watched you both sparring, when I saw the grins and laughter, the way your limbs entwined. I couldn't... all I could remember was him calling you Siha and the look in his eyes. He... you know he wants you. He agreed not to ask to become a Pashi, but he desires you. And you promised me and he promised me. But this is Thane, so much more experienced, so much more like you and what you deserve. I was trained as a bodyguard, a mate ... a consort. He's a trained fighter, the highest honored assassin that the Compact had ever produced and you're a Spectre. The first Human Spectre and highly decorated soldier."

She let out a sigh and moved to the couch. "I am also your wife. I like Thane, and yes, I find him extraordinary and very attractive."

Alex closed his eyes and dropped his head, a heartbreaking sound coming from him.

She cupped his face and turned it toward her, "but I find you even more so. You are my husband and the only man I will accept into my bed. You have nothing to be worried or jealous about, Alex. Honestly."

His orchid colored eyes stared into hers and he leaned in giving her a kiss and whispering how sorry he was and promised not to disobey her about the showers again. She gave a huff and knew he would the first chance he got.

"You need to apologize to Thane as well. That put him in a very uncomfortable position. It was a childish and hurtful thing to do to him, Alex."

He dropped his eyes and nodded, "I'll go see him right away and apologize to him."

"See that you do. I have more work to do, I'll see you later."

He kissed her again then got up to go search for Thane.

 

* * *

  
  
Over the next week they hit every mining facility that was left on Tali's list. Finding tidbits of data and a few human slaves that were exhausted, malnourished and close to death. But not in the numbers that would point to this being the right place, for one there were no Drell.

"Commander, you have an incoming message from an agent of the Broker."

"Patch it through, Joker. This is Commander Shepard."

"Commander, this is in response to your further inquiry about Aequitas. There is some new information that has come to light. The information will be sent after the fee has been received, rest assured this intel is not included in the document that was forwarded to you by the Alliance."

Shepard raised her eyebrow, "acknowledged. One moment." She looked at the screen, saw the fee rate and cleared her throat, hoping like hell it was going to be worth it, then pressed "Pay".

"Payment has been received and intel is being forwarded. We hope to do business with you in the future." The comm was cut and Shepard waited until the security scans were run before accessing the file.

 

* * *

 

"What now Shepard? The only place we haven't been to yet is the one held by the Alliance." Garrus said from his seat near the railing.

"You can't believe the Alliance had anything to do with this? There are almost as many Humans being taken as there were Drell." Ashley said, her arms cross and staring at the turian.

"Not what I meant.That mine is the last location here, and we know from all the data that we collected, that whatever or whoever is doing this has at least one major operation going on in this system. It's possible since the Alliance doesn't track that mine of theirs closely, because of whatever the hell is going on down there, that others could have been using it without their knowing about it."

"That's true, Garrus. The last maintenance log was from about a year ago. Arrival, check the outside data terminal, run a diagnostic, install the upgrade and leave. Sign in and sign out was less than 15 minutes." Shepard leaned against the railing in her usual spot, her brows furrowed as she looked over the data scrolling down the holo screen.

"The only concern I have at this point is about whatever this, "artifact", is. Those reports were from years ago and apparently nothing has been done to remove or contain it yet. From this last report not even the Council knows about it. Whether that is a good or bad thing I'm not sure about. The less people exposed to that thing the better, but the Alliance should have asked for aid in containing it. Whatever the hell "it" actually is. I'm not sure what the results would be to us if we need to go down there, not to mention if this is the place, those people have been exposed for long periods of time, the worst case scenario is their extremely hostile, or catatonic."

"I have also received new information from the Broker." She let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead, "normally I would trust the intel as this is their business. But...this new stuff is troubling."

"What is your concern?" Thane asked from the other side of the room, where he had been watching her, knowing something more was bothering her than just the intel that was still scrolling its way over the holo screen.

"For one, there are no reports of any mining shipments from there. Nothing. The Alliance hasn't done a damn thing in the area for years, and by now they should have figured out a way to at least find out what this artifact was." She sighed then brought up the other report.

"There has been, over the last year, interceptions of communique between several unknown entities and the Blue Suns throughout the area. Most of it is things we already knew, updates for their "shopping lists" and detailed reports about the Drell, even after we found took down their inside source. And this intel was more detailed than even what she could have known. Things about the returning Drell, how they are starting to break away from the Hanar and needed to be brought back under their "Compact". That part we aren't even sure is connected with this whole thing, it could have just been a passing comm.

There was however, a listing of ships they were on, orders to intercept and have them taken to Aequitas and to wait until they were met with the agent, then they were to hand the Drell over. Maybe they would be taken back to Kahje and released after they denied the "Compact"? I don't know, after we check out the mine we'll get in contact with the Ariki. Since the planet is out of the way and has pretty much been abandoned publically they wouldn't have to worry about interference.

Some of it goes over the pricing changes for the "unworthy ones", the asking fee was being raised to cover their new costs. There was also a warning, if they brought more scrutiny to them and the "recovering of the gift" then all ties would be severed and they would send the data they had on the Blue Suns operation to the Council, of course that would be after they removed evidence of their own involvement, I'm sure."

There was a bunch of shifting of bodies in chairs and Thane approached her, his eyes going over the intel on the screen. His hands crossed at the lower part of his back as he stood there thinking.

"What is it, Thane?"

"Some of this... I am not sure, Shepard. It doesn't make any sense."

She stared at him for a few minutes, "okay. Are there any questions?" When no one said anything she told them all to gear up and get ready.

 

* * *

 

"Joker, any unusual traffic in the area?"

"Nothing with any strange ships. There was a bit of comm chatter earlier, couldn't tell if it was from the planet or the cruiser passing through. Just a burst, nothing specific that stuck out."

"Copy that." She let out a frustrated sigh, and rubbed her upper lip.

"Alright, ETA is three hours, Garrus, Thane and Kaidan suit up, you're with me. Kaidan pack medical mods, make sure your field kit is stocked with everything you may possibly need. Have Chakwas standing at the ready with team two, Tali, Alexius and Ramirez, for evac if we get our asses in trouble. Monitor all vitals, if anything feels off to you, immediately report and we get our asses off that planet. Dismissed."

"Aye, aye Commander."

 

* * *

 

Shepard stood behind Joker's seat as they stayed in stealth mode, in orbit around the planet, for the last thirty minutes. "Anything?"

"Readings from the surface are... haywire. I can't figure out if it's intentional interference or if that artifact thing is what is causing it. I'm trying to clean it up a bit more. There has been a few signals going out but they weren't on any of the Alliance channels."

"Alright, keep monitoring and make damn sure our comms to you are kept clean. If anything comes up let me know." She turned away from him after his acknowledgement and headed for the shuttle bay.

"Keep the chatter to a minimum. Joker informed me there is a lot of interference with the signals. Stay within line of sight, even you Thane. No going into the shadows this time. We don't know what's down there or if the radio's will be clear."

Thane tipped his head then stood staring at the small holo screen. He hadn't said much to her since the incident in the shower and Shepard had to wonder what was happening. She moved to beside him and connected on a private channel.

"Are you alright? You haven't been your usual self lately."

"I am fine, Commander. Just running through all of the gathered data for this mission."

She let out a sigh, "you are not alright. I'm sorry about what Alex did. I didn't know he was going to do it. It was unprofessional and I offer my apologies for the way he acted and any embarrassment you felt at what he had done."

"I felt no embarrassment."

"Then what the hell is going on?"

Thane shifted slightly, "it was not my intention to make your Suinima uncomfortable with my presence. The... issue is being resolved, Commander. I meant no disrespect to either of you."

"Damn it, you're pissing me off now. There is nothing to resolve, Thane. Alex isn't uncomfortable with your presence, he is still unsure of himself. And honestly who wouldn't be if they keep trying to compare themselves to you. You need to snap out of this, I want the Thane that I grew to respect and count on to have my back out there. Not this cold, distant stranger. I want my friend back."

She looked at him then turned and moved to the other side of the shuttle, standing in front of the door with her arms crossed over her armor. When the shuttle touched down the door barely opened before the three of them were out and on alert.

The first shot sparked off Shepard's armor and she called out "hostiles." They scattered and returned fire, working their way toward where the combatants were dug in. When they reached it they found several Drell dead. Shepard crouched down and ran a scan. Thane knelt beside her and turned the one's head toward him and removed the mask.

"I know this one, Shepard. He's trained by the Compact, several years behind me. Garrus, remove the other mask." He moved a bit closer and looked down at the other Drell and let out a hiss. "This one is the same, Compact trained infiltrator."

"You reading this Joker?"

"Aye, Commander. I've set up a line to the Ariki to inform her. She is bringing someone named Ketu to the Palace. According to her this is a development they did not know about and this person would be the one to speak with."

"Thane?"

"Ketu is the head trainer for the Drells in the Compact, now the Kaito. He would know if these males have gone rogue or are under contract. Might I suggest extreme caution here, Shepard."

She nodded and they moved toward the mine's opening. They were attacked by several more male Drells, when the Ariki came over the comm line and a holo of an older male Drell appeared, he told them that many of the older Drell that were trained have not returned. They were believed to have been terminated at some point in their contracts. All of them were dangerous enemies to have.

"The Drell that were on the ships? Could they have been brought here and intentionally exposed?" Shepard hissed.

Thane nodded, "yes, Siha. It would seem so. Once the Ariki put out the call, the Drell would have returned, after their contracts were done. Not even loyalty to their Hanar handlers would have stopped them. This is... unsettling."

The further they went into the mine the more resistance they met, and it wasn't only from the compacted Drell but from ones that matched the missing people. Drell, Human and even an Asari, screaming in some strange language and trying to strike at them with whatever happened to be close at hand to use as a weapon.

The Ariki's breath was in drawn at the amount of dead bodies they had found dumped in one of the rooms. "Shepard to Normandy. We'll need a bio clean up crew on standby. Bag and tag duty."

"Copy that, Commander." Joker's heaved out sigh spoke more of anger than sadness.

When they finally made it to down the several levels and through numerous guards and seemingly incoherent and hostile Drell to the lowest level, they were met with a sight they never thought to see, several Hanar were directing the Drells to attack the crew on sight and to protect the Enkindler's Beacon at all costs. That was their duty to the Compact and to the Enkindlers, they were to keep the infidels from despoiling the Artifact. They were to fight to the death.

The crew didn't falter, as soon as the Drells started to fire on them, they returned fire and were joined by the second team that rushed to help. Biotic flares, gunfire and several drones were accompanied by the blue white light of the flying Lumoi, the flash of a titanium knife larger than most people have ever seen, wielded by an expert at close combat. A green shadow blending in and appearing to snap a neck here or shoot from the shadows there.

Kaidan ran to the aid of Tali when she dropped behind a crate, notifying them of a suit rupture. Alex stepped into the area that opened to keep the opponents from flanking them. The Lumoi flashed over and over, the wheels spinning faster than the eye could see, cutting through metal and bone alike. He stumbled when he was struck by several rifle rounds. Thane appeared behind him to drag him behind several crates and applied medigel.

Alex looked at him through the goggles of his mask and grabbed him on the shoulder. Thane seemed to understand and squeezed back, "do not worry. I do not think Kalahira wishes you to join her today. Rest for a moment."

The weapons fire started to lesson, the pops from the other side of the barricade grew less and less until finally ceased.

Shepard called for a sound off and report. Each one responded with their name and condition. Shepard notified the Normandy of an evac of several team members.

Ramirez stayed behind to guard the ones that were in medical need while the others approached the beacon and the barricade. Shepard stopped to pick up the Lumoi that had dropped to the ground, the other one was embedded solidly into wall of the mine. They watched as it began to glow and wiggle finally coming loose and returning to Alexius, who was sitting up against a stack of crates.

The others fanned out and kept their guard up as Thane and Shepard rounded the barricade and looked at the Drell that had fallen. Amongst them were many of the ones missing, they were being used as cannon fodder, several more were chained in cages near a giant machine, a glowing bluish purple light surrounded a large glass like ball hanging suspended in the air between two curved spikes. The area surrounding the artifact looks like it was being dug up.

"Normandy, we need a Marine detail down to escort several Drell into the holding cells. Notify Chakwas and the med team that they are to examine them but to be cautious. They were being kept next to that artifact and could be hostile."

"Acknowledged, team is loading into the shuttle now, ETA 10 minutes."

"Thane, that crazy ass Hanar was shouting something about Enkindlers... what the hell is an Enkindler?" Shepard asked as they supervised the extraction of the chained Drell, many of which followed docilely, their eyes vacant and heads hanging down.

"The Enkindlers are the beings worshipped by the Hanar, Protheans they view as Gods. They credit them for giving them voices, knowledge. Teachings state that they found a "beacon of learning from the Gods" many centuries ago and learned from the Data cache. They view all Prothean artifacts as gifts from the Enkindlers and are meant solely for them. They demand access to every find, every beacon. Then they try and claim it as theirs due to their religious beliefs."

"Why in the hell would they enslave the Drells and other species?" Shepard looked at all of the bodies, "why do this?"

"Shepard, the Compact initially was formed to supply and train Drell to do that which the Hanar can not because of their form. They can't move well outside of the water, they can't handle weapons well, and so many other things that most of the other species can train their own kind for. Digging and working of delicate equipment would be one of those jobs. The reports said that the Alliance would not sell this mine. It is possible that when the Hanar found out about the Beacon being here, they saw a way to obtain it without going through the Council."

"Protheans aren't Gods... they were mortal beings that lived thousands of years ago. Nothing is worth this." Shepard shook her head before moving over to check on Alex.

She stroked the side of his masked head, "you were incredible today. Thank you for protecting our flank and for stepping up. I'm very proud of you."

"My duty to my Viama, guard my Viama and the ones she needs to do her duty. It is my honor to guard you, Viama. I am glad that I was able to be of service."

She stroked his head several more times until the medical team arrived to help him to the med bay. "I will be there as soon as I can, Alex." She clasped his Lumoi bracelet back on his wrist and touched his chest as they carried him to the shuttle.

After two more hours Shepard sent a notice to all of the people that remained on the surface, grab the rest of what they could and get to the ship, they've been there too long and needed to get away from the beacon.

 

* * *

 

"Joker did you send through the report to the Council and Alliance?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Both sent their acknowledgments. The Council is sending several prepared teams here to collect this Beacon. The report they sent claimed it did not resemble a normal data cache, but something very different and will be contained within a prepared field for monitored study. The Hanar have already issued prior claims and have been denied. The Alliance has issued suits against the Hanar for everything from trespassing to kidnapping and murder of Humans to destruction of private property."

"Thanks, Joker."

Shepard entered the med bay and stopped to talk with all of the wounded crew before she reached Alexius' bedside. "Alex, how are you feeling?" She leaned down and kissed his forehead, hearing him giving a pleased sigh and hum.

"I am well, Viama. The Doctor said two days before I could leave, just to be safe as one of the projectiles lodged very near one of my control nodes. And you Viama, are you well?"

"I am Alex. We've been in contact with the Council to get that thing out of here. I'll need to go soon and check my messages. So far nothing has come in on emergency status so I have time to spend here with you. We will head for the Citadel so I can report to the Council once their crews have arrived. Once my business is done there we can spend some time together."

"That would be most welcome, Viama. I have someplace that I would like to show you, Thane showed it to me when we were there last." He smiled up at her as she stroked his frill and ridges.

"I would love to see this place." She continued to stroke his head and arm and watched as his eyes slowly closed. When he was asleep she moved away and talked with the Doctor about any lasting side effects of that device to any of the crew. She was assured that along with a regular medical scan everyone was receiving a neural scan as well.

 

* * *

  
  
Three days later they arrived at the Citadel and headed toward the Council chambers. Thane was requested to be present as a representative of the current Kaito and to help refute any claims of the Hanar. His memories along with a few that was salvageable from one of the lesser damaged minds of the captive Drell was presented along with data retrieved from the suit cameras and data banks.

Shepard presented them with the list of the missing Drells and the completed listing of the dead found either in the decomposing pile of bodies or as the ones that were being use as fodder along with the ones attacking them. It was hard to refute the images from 7 different suit cameras, matching audio feeds and the outburst of several Hanar all exclaiming that the Enkindlers gifts were not meant for those not blessed by them and they would use whatever means necessary to locate and retrieve the artifact.

The Council was not amused. The Hanar would be lucky to be accepted on any Council held homeworld, whether just as a visitor or for business. Each Hanar that made their home or business on the Citadel was now subjected to mandatory tag and track protocol and regular security reviews. The Council also levied multiple sanctions and fines against the Hanar Illuminated Primacy, followed shortly by the Humans and the Asari. Even the Salarian and Volus asked for remuneration and sanctions against them for the loss of their people.

The Drell on the other hand were rewarded for their assistance on the entire matter with a low key apology sent to them for not responding to their pleas for help sooner. They were also given leave to establish a small embassy on the Citadel and elect an ambassador.

 

* * *

  
The crew debrief was held right after she returned from the Council chambers. The intel was all put together to show how the Hanar had hired the merc group to kidnap those unsuspecting Drell and others from the shipping lanes and other areas so their tentacles remained clean. No one would have been able to trace the missing people back to them. No one would suspect them of harming their client race. But no one other than a handful of Drell knew the full workings of the Compact and just how much the Hanar made it seem to some of them that they owed the Hanar everything.

Even Thane had told them that one of the reasons they are given into the Compact as a child, was a child's mind was more pliable, less likely to question the teachings. By the time they go for their first contract they are "numb" and do not question their contracts. But always, was the information inside of them to obey the Ariki. What ever this beacon was, seemed to wipe everything out. Everything but what was said to them while under the beacon's continued influence.

"Why not just send the Drell there to begin with? Why go through all the trouble of hiring the mercs?" Ashley asked.

"Remember what happens with prolonged contact, they lose cognition, they wouldn't be able to function in the way Drell do just under the teachings on Kahje. They wouldn't be able to hide the casualties or the effects of it. As far as hiring the mercs, it hid the Hanar's own involvement. Why would Drell and Hanar be going to that planet, it was off limits and owned by the Alliance. All it would have taken was for a passing Alliance vessel to see them and report it. But a merc ship from one of the other mines... they could easily pass right by and drop off the cargo and kept on going. Seeing those ships there wasn't anything unusual. Even Joker hadn't seen anything odd as a cruiser passed through the area. It didn't stick out."

"The cruiser was unregistered but it's pretty common knowledge that smugglers, pirates, and other unregistered starships go to Pietas to touch down and make repairs. There was no unusual comms, and it didn't change its course or speed. Didn't even come close to Aequitas. Nothing on the comm chatter even mentioned the Normandy or anything." Joker said over the comm. "Those ships are so common that no one really pays any attention to them anymore."

"If the Council or the Alliance would have found out about the Hanar going there, the Alliance at least would have sent people in, even if was only to cover their own asses in not reporting the Beacon. If the Council was the ones to have found out about it first then the Alliance would have had to answer to them about hiding that thing. Either way the Hanar's involvement would have been found out. I guess they thought no one would suspect them in the kidnappings."

She was still going over their debrief when a message came in from the Council. They had finished decrypting the data that was found at the mine and it had a listing of accounts where the Hanar was transferring money to the merc group and also substantial amounts being deposited within days of the kidnappings. The Council was sending out others to track the account holders down, but they were confident that the deposits were from slavers purchasing the victims off of the special lists that were found by Shepard months before.

"That's probably how they were funding this entire thing to remain under the radar." Ashley said as she stretched her legs in front of her. The whole crew was more than ready for a nice, long shore leave.

 

* * *

 

Alexius dragged Shepard toward the ice cream parlor and she tried to hide her smile and act surprised at the find of such a wonderful shop. The older woman knew the Commander by name and played along, giving her spiel about what the favorites were and that she needed to be very careful because of how cold the product was. Alex had such a huge smile on his face as was humming happily that Shepard couldn't bring herself to tell him that she was a regular customer. Thane, on the other hand, had seen through the ruse and tipped his head slightly also with a slight smile on his face.

 

* * *

  
Shepard was stroking Alex's thighs as she straddled him, "are you sure about this, Alex?"

He nodded at her, "yes, Viama. I am sure." His eyelids fluttered as she stroked higher.

"If you need me to stop, tell me. If you change your mind, you must tell me." She whispered to him as she kissed his frill and then his neck, hearing him gasp out his agreement.

Alex had his eyes closed and was clutching the hotel's bedsheets as Shepard kissed her way down his body. Her tongue dragging along the dark purple stripes arrowing their way to his groin. He hissed and arched his back when her lips grazed the small leathery bump at the junction of his thighs. She continued down his body and brushed her fingertips over him, the groan he let out was loud in the room.

"Are you alright? Do you want me to stop?"

"Viama, please."

"Please what, Suinima?"

"Do not stop, do that again."

She dragged her tongue along his thigh and could feel his muscles shaking, "this?"

"Mmm... higher, Viama." His gasp as he felt her tongue slide over his groin and the way he dug his heels into the bed let her know that was what he wanted.

"You like this, Suinima? Do you like my tongue stroking you?" She licked across him once more and he almost shouted out "yes". Her warm, moist tongue lapped at him and his pants and groans got louder and were joined with growls.

"Viama, stop. it is becoming too much."

Shepard kissed her way up his body, careful of not touching the leathery covering again.

"Are you alright?" She stroked the side of his head, her eyes meeting his.

"Yes, it was much different this time, Viama. I know now that you did not mean it to hurt me, but to give me pleasure. It felt ... felt...," she smiled down at him still stroking his head. 

She barely pressed her lips to his before he flipped them and pinned her arms above her head.

"Viama. There is something that I would like to do, with your permission, something that I had seen on the vid that Joker sent."

Her eyes searched his and she gave a small nod.

His mouth swooped down on her and kissed her thoroughly before he started to kiss along her collarbone and shoulder. His lips worked their way to her breasts and feasted upon them to her utter delight, the sighs and moans from her bolstering his courage.

This time it was her that gasped and let out a loud groan when his lips and tongue began to work her center. His large eyes glittering at her as his tongue licked and tasted her. He blinked and let out a small moan of his own when he felt her start to shake then cry out. Her body convulsing around his finger and tongue. He slowed his licks before moving to cover her. "Viama? Was that right?"

She let out a small laugh, "more than just right, Suinima, it was wonderful." He grinned at her then started to nuzzle her neck as he lifted her leg to wrap around him.

"Wait, there is something I wanted to try, if you are willing." She sat up and kissed him before getting on her hands and knees in front of him. "Like this, take me like this. Hard and fast, Alex."

He swallowed and wondered if his Viama knew this was a submissive position in the Drell culture, used to train a male consort for those high ranking male guests of the Ariki with a preference for other males. His Viama wanted him to try different things with her, so far everything had been pleasurable, but never was she submissive to him. She wanted him to know that what they did together was not to be viewed as anything but something to be shared and enjoyed by both of them. She never made the mistake of not listening to his concerns again. Always did they talk if she wanted something or if he didn't.

"Viama? This is... are you sure? You will ... you will ... this is..."

She looked back over her shoulder, "what is wrong, Alex?"

"You would submit to me this way? You will allow me this?"

She grinned, "yes, Alex. If I wasn't sure about this I wouldn't have positioned myself like this. I want you to make love to me this way, enter me from behind, take me hard and fast, bring us both pleasure. If I need you to stop I will tell you, alright? I trust you, Alex.""

He gave a nod then moved behind her. When his fingers stroked her quivering center she moaned and pressed back toward him. He blinked then thrust his fingers in deep and she cried out, begging him to do it again, begging him for more.  

His Viama was begging him for this, for more, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He started to move his fingers deeper, curling them against the little spot inside that drove her crazy, until he felt his body stirring to the point of the change. He shifted then hissed as he entered her, he grew larger and she groaned as she thrust backward, until he gripped her hips, threw back his head and began the hard and fast rhythm she had asked him for.

"Oh Gods, Alex, more." She groaned as she lowered her upper body to the bed and he pressed closer, bending over her and sliding his lips and tongue along her back as he worked his ridges against her. Her tight channel squeezing around him as she shook and cried out her release, making him groan and strive to reach his own orgasm.

He helped ease her down to the bed and they rolled to their sides, he was still buried deeply within her. She let out a happy sigh and he held her tightly against him with his face buried in the hollow of her shoulder, kissing her neck and behind her ear. "Are you alright, Viama?"

"More than alright. What about you, Suinama? Are you alright?"

He tightened his hold on her and she heard a pleased hum coming from him.

"I love you, Viama."

"And I you, my one and only Suinima."

She felt him grin into her neck before he let out a sigh.


End file.
